to plot with the master thereof to keep his design from the foreman and a boy (which was all the ship's company), and so get to Fécamp in France. At Rouen he looked so poorly that the people went into the rooms before he went away to see whether he had not stolen something or other." It was just after the battle that the king hid himself in an oak tree, where he could sit in security watching those who came in search of him, and hearing them say what they would do with him when they caught him, which oak tree is still commemorated by the wearing of oak apples on the 29th of May, the day when he was restored to his kingdom. Though in the course of his wanderings Charles was recognized by a large number of both men and women, and though a proclamation was issued promising a thousand pounds to anyone who would deliver him up, and declaring the penalty of high treason against any who should harbor or conceal him, not one of them had a thought of betraying him, either through hope of reward or dread of punish ment. CHAPTER XLIX. THE PROTECTOR AND THE KING. The rule of Oliver Cromwell. The fame of England. Death of Oliver. The army supreme. Recall of Charles II. Reaction against the Puritans. The plague and the fire. 1653. CROMWELL and his army were now victorious everywhere. The poor remains of the Long Parliament, which had begun so grandly and had done such brave things, were now sunk into contempt. They looked on with displeasure at the new tyranny which was growing up, but they were quite helpless. At last, one day Cromwell marched into the Cromwell House with a body of soldiers, had the Speaker the Par pulled out of his chair by force, called his mace a liament. bauble, and, after abusing and insulting the members, turned them all out of the House, and locked the door. No one dared cry "Privilege of Parliament" this time; Cromwell and the Ironsides were too strong for them. breaks up The government was now supposed to be republican, and England was called a commonwealth; but in fact the whole He is made country lay at the feet of Cromwell. He would lord pro- have liked very much to be made king and tector. called so, but the army, though wholly devoted to him, hated the title of king, and he was instead called the lord protector. He resolved to try and govern in the old way, with a House of Lords and a House of Commons; but his plan did not succeed very well. One of the Parliaments he summoned was not fairly elected, and was generally despised. One of its most active members being the leatherseller, Praise-God Barebone, it was derisively called by the people "Barebone's Parliament." His other Parliament, when it attempted to do its duty and to put some check on his despotic will, he dissolved, just as James or Charles would have done. His House of Lords was ridiculed by everybody. Scarcely any of the real nobility of the old families which the people respected would attend; it was said that Oliver invited draymen and cobblers to take seats in it. It was true that men of all trades had been officers in Cromwell's army, had done good work for the country, and were worthy of all respect; but when they attempted to appear as lords and nobles they became ridiculous, and even the House of Commons would not honor them by calling them lords. If ever there was an absolute monarch in the world, Oliver Cromwell had become one; but it cannot be denied that as long as he reigned, he reigned gloriously. He His government. restored justice and order; no judge dared touch a bribe; no one dared stir up strife or tumult. was even reasonably tolerant in religion. The great parties had broken up into many different sects by this time, and he strove to make them live peaceably together. He even allowed the Jews to come back to England, none of whom had entered the country since the day when Edward I. had banished them. It is curious to consider that when Shakespeare drew the character of Shylock, he had probably never seen a Jew. Some of them established themselves in London, though they were not allowed to build a synagogue till 1662. Cromwell, indeed, became so famous that some of the Jews in foreign parts began to think he must be their expected Messiah, and sent a body of Rabbis to England to try and find out whether he had not had some Jewish ancestors. He did not seem to have been at all flattered by this compliment, and sent the Rabbis off again in great indignation. It was while Cromwell was lord protector that the first missionaries were sent out from England to convert the heathen. Very large sums of money are now raised every year by the Church of England and other bodies for the purpose of spreading Christianity far and wide. Cromwell's government caused collections to be made in every parish in England for sending missionaries to the American Indians. The first of the missionaries was a most devoted and heroic man named Eliot, who converted a great many of the savages, and translated the Bible into their language. England at this time rose to great fame and glory abroad. After Elizabeth's death she had sunk down under the Stuart. kings to be a second-rate power; but Cromwell's wisdom and energy raised her up again, till she England's seemed the greatest and mightiest nation in Europe. fame. T All the other countries tried to win her friendship. Her fleet once more became grand and powerful. She had an admiral named Blake, who was as brave and gallant as Raleigh or Drake. England went to war with Holland at this time, which was also a great naval power. But they and all the other enemies of England were conquered. The English pride was much gratified during these wars by the taking of Dunkirk, a port in Flanders, for it seemed 1658. to make compensation for the loss of Calais, which, though it had happened a hundred years before, they never could forget. Evelyn the Royalist notes in his diary: "I went to see the great ship newly built by the Usurper Oliver, carrying ninety-six brass guns, and a thousand tons burthen. In the prow was Oliver on horseback, trampling six nations under foot, -a Scot, Irishman, Dutchman, Frenchman, Spaniard, and English, as was easily made out by their several habits. A Fame held a laurel over his insulting head, the word God with us." Still more to his lasting glory, Cromwell was the friend and protector of persecuted Protestants abroad. Among the Alps, nestling among the mountain valleys, The Vau- lived a harmless race of humble Protestants, - the dois. Vaudois or Waldenses, who were not strictly Protestant, but who, living in those secluded regions, had kept fast to primitive Christianity, and had disregarded the new things which had been added in the course of ages. The Duke of Savoy determined to force these poor people to renounce their faith or to leave their homes. Those who did not or could not go away, and who would not give up their Bibles and their religion, were massacred without mercy. Their sufferings were awful. It was related that "a mother was hurled down a rock with a little infant in her arms, and three days after was found dead, with the little child alive, but fast clasped between the arms of the dead mother, which were cold and stiff, insomuch that those who found them had much ado to get the young child out." Those who could escape into the mountains sent messengers to England for help. Cromwell at once proclaimed a general fast, and a national collection for the help of the survivors. Nearly forty thousand pounds was contributed. But Cromwell did more. He sent an ambassador to the murdering duke, demanding the instant suspension of the persecution. Such was the awe inspired by Cromwell's name, that the 1655. in duke submitted without hesitation; the innocent people were allowed to return to their homes and to worship God Cromwell had a noble helper in this work, the peace. Puritan poet Milton. Many of the letters on this business were written by him, and his heart, glowing with pity and indignation, poured itself out in a prayer which is almost like an inspired psalm: Avenge, O Lord, Thy slaughtered saints, whose bones Who were Thy sheep, and in their ancient fold A hundred fold, who, having learned Thy way, Notwithstanding all his glory, and his many noble points, the people in general did not love Cromwell. If it were true, as Evelyn thought, that one of the six nations which he was trampling under foot in the prow of his ship was England, we can well understand the feeling. Nor was it likely that the nation would long submit to be governed by a despotism. There were insurrections and plots, and the Protector knew that his life was not safe. He wore a steel shirt under his clothes; he never went out unless attended by an escort, and seldom came home by the same road on which he started. He dared not sleep always in the same bedroom, but had several different ones, each of which had a secret door. At last he died a natural death. It was on the day when he had won two of his great victories, and which he used to call his "fortunate day." As he looked back on 1658. his career he seemed to have some misgivings as to Death of parts of his conduct. He did not know if he had Cromwell. always acted as befitted a Christian man; but some of his last words were, "Truly God is good. He will not leave me; my work is done; God will be with His people." He was buried in Westminster Abbey with more pomp and honor than had been shown to some of the greatest |