shew'd their Dislike of this Change of Government but also the Colonies in Virginia and the Carybde Islands to the reducing of whom the Parliament sent Sir George Askue with a Fleet of Ships who brought them again into Obedience In the mean Time the Scots were very busie they had commenced a Treaty with Prince Charles at Breda which at last was concluded on he assenting to their Presbyterian Government and they to instal and re-establish him in that Kingdom and in the other accordingly as they questioned not but Fortune would answer their blind zealous Covenant Expectations The Prince puts forth to Sea and in despite of foul Weather and the English King Fishers that lay there to intercept him he landed safely at the Spey in the North of Scotland Now tho' the Scots had a King yet as if they had none every one did that which is right in his own Eyes and as if they intended him only the Title being now in their Power they forced him to follow the Rules of their haughty Clergy in all their sanatick Humours and imperious Decrees First then they bereaved him of all his old Friends Counsellors and Confederates whether of the Clergy or Laity as those who adhered to Episcopal Government and so not pure enough for so reform'd a People Thus they hamstringed him not as what was formerly in the Sign-post only of printed Papers Next they make him take the Solemn League and Covenant that strange Fire which the Scots believe descended from Heaven and by which they at their Pleasures kindle those Wars wherewith they infest England Then these Horse Farriers of the Conscience gave him another Drench he is taught to Renounce the Sins of his Father's House and of his own the Idolatry of his Mother by a constant adhering to the Cause of God according to the Covenant in the firm Establishment of Church Government as it is laid down in the Directory for publick Worship Confession of â—aith and Catechism These with divers others of the like Nature they wrought so on his Necessity they obtruded or rather rammed into his Conscience although with much Reluctancy he signed to making many strange Faces at these bitter Pills he swallowed yet it better'd not his Condition which was like that of a Child under Tutors and Governors there was not an Officer in that Kirk or Commonwealth how vile and abject soever in Place or Person but enjoyed more Freedom both in Body and Mind than he Guarded indeed he was but no otherwise than he was surrounded with the Ignis Fatuus of their zealous Suspicions of him so that move he must not but in the Sphere of the Kirk their Primum mobile whereby 'tis apparent that the Government of that Nation might be almost question'd whether it ever were truly Monarchial tho' they had Kings To proceed the Parliament having notice of all their Proceedings recalled General Cromwel out of Ireland making him Generalissimo of the Commonwealths Armies in the Lord Fairfax's Stead who at the same Time laid down his Commission he with a choice Army marches into Scotland and after many petty Defeats gives them a great Overthrow at Dumbar September 3 1650 and prosecuting his Victory takes Leith a very considerable and advantageous Place as also Edinburgh the Metropolitan City of all Scotland Thus he set firm there his Sword hewing his Way for him to conquer that Country which the King lost by his Pen. Now were the Scots truly miserable for besides a raging Enemy in the very Heart of their Kingdom they were divided among themselves even to the killing and slaying of one another one Party in the North was for the King without the Kirk another Party in the West was for the Kirk without the King a third Party was for the King and Kirk Yet notwithstanding these Losses and Divisions they assumed new Courage levied more Men and crowned their King with the utmost Magnificence as the Indigency and Necessity of their Affairs would admit The English on the other Side being resolved to terminate this War with Scotland passed over into Fife and having defeated four thousand Scots they soon became Masters of Inchigravy Burntisland and St. Johnstoun Mean while the Scots Army consisting of 16000 abandoned their own Territories and by the Way of Carlisle entred England General Cromwel advertised hereof leaves Colonel Monk with 7000 Men in Scotland to perfect the Conquest of that Kingdom and with the rest of the Army pursues the Scots who wheresoever they came proclaimed their King to be King of Great Britain France and Ireland c. But few stirred unto their Aid among others the unfortunate Earl of Darby who having assembled 1200 Men in Lancashire was defeated by Colonel Lilbourn and to save himself was constrained to flee to Worcester where the Scots after a long and tedious March had pitch'd their Camp whither General Cromwel soon pursued and having the Aid of the Train Bands of several Counties gave them Battle which proved fatal unto the Scots their whole Army being overthrown The King in a Disguise escaped into France not without much Difficulty and Danger the Parliament having promised five hundred Pounds to any one that could discover his Person Such a List of Prisoners as were then taken we shall seldom meet with in any Battle but Cromwel's the Earl of Darby the Earl of Lauderdale Duke Hamilton General of the Scots Army who afterwards died of his Wounds the Earl of Rothes the Earl of Cornwarth the Earl of Shrewsbury Peckington Cunninghame and Clare Knights the Lord Spine and Sinclare the Earl of Cleveland of Kelley and Colonel Greaves six Colonels of Horse thirteen of Foot nine Lieutenant Colonels of Horse eight of Foot six Majors of Horse thirteen of Foot seven and thirty Captains of Horse seventy three of Foot fifth five Quarter-masters eighty nine Lieutenants of Foot Major General Biscotty Major General Montgomery the Lieutenant General of the Ordnance the Adjutant General of the Foot the Marshal General the Quartermaster General the Conductor General of the Baggage seventy six Standards ninety nine Ensigns all which were hung up in Westminster Hall for successive Parliaments to understand what Vigour of Spirits they by their Influence can infuse into those they please please to authorize only the Want of the Allay of their Ambitions often works them high where it is impossible to set limits to generous Minds To continue the other Appendixes to this Victory there were also taken nine Ministers nine Chirurgeons One hundred fifty and eight Colours and all the Cannon and Baggage generally the Royal Standard the King's Coach and Horses the Royal Robe the Collar of the Order of the Garter thirty of his domestick Servants and that admirable Poet his Secretary Fanshaw Several other Persons were also afterwards taken in the remotest Countries as Major General Massey who being committed to the Tower afterwards made his Escape Major General Middleton Lieutenant General David Lesly insomuch as that it may be
The EFFIGEY of OLIVER CROMWEL Late Lord-Protector of ENGLAND LIFE OF Oliver Cromwel Lord PROTECTOR Of the Common-Wealth Of England Scotland and Ireland Being an Account of all the Battles Sieges and other Military Atchievements wherein he was engaged in these Three Nations And likewise of his Civil Administrations while he had the Supream Government till his Death Relating Matter of Fact without Partiality LONDON Printed by D. PRATT at the Bible and Crown over-against York-House in the Strand THE PREFACE THERE is scarce a Character of any Man of Fame in the World which suffers such an unaccountable Variety as this of Oliver Cromwel His History is told so many Ways and so every way different from one another that it will be impossible for Posterity to make a right Judgment of him or of his Accounts On one hand he is represented as a Hero on the other as a Traytor on the one hand he is called the greatest Soldier on the other the greatest Villain of the Age he liv'd in on one side he is the greatest Polititian on the other the greatest Hypocrite on one side the greatest General on the other the greatest Tyrant but I must add that both sides agree that he was what ever they add to it not Great only but the Greatest In a Word Party is the Test of his History if a Cavalier writes History we know what to expect of him viz. that Oliver shall be villify'd with the utmost Spleen and Rage If a Round-head he shall be exalted with the utmost Rhetorick However to speak Impartially the Cavalier's will acknowledge this namely that he was a great Man and will often say what great Things he has done and how happy it had been if he had been on the King's side And on the contrary the Presbyterian's will say on all Occasions how glorious a Man had he been if he had but done So and So viz. if he had but turn'd out the P. set him up and the like To do his Character Justice two Actions fully'd it in general namely cutting off the King and setting himself up as Head of the Common-wealth in the first he dipp'd his hands in a cold Murder on the Person of his Sovereign and in the second he darken'd all the Glory of his Gallantry and of the great Things he had done in the Field shewing that it was all with a secret Aim to gratify his private Ambition Abstracted from these Character was truly Great and 'tis among such as are scarce to be imitated in the World this was acknowledg'd by his worst Enemies The whole is Elegantly express'd in two Lines by that excellent Poet Mr. Melvell Tho' his Government did a Tyrant resemble He made England great her Enemy's tremble But I return to his History and shall give a Brief but Sure and Impartial Draft of with all possible Partiallity THE LIFE of Oliver Cromwel c. OLIVER CROMWEL was born at Huntington descended of the ancient Family of the Williams's of the County of Glamorgan and by Adoption into that of the Cromwels the more noble Family as descend of Thomas Cromwel Earl of Essex the Ax that hew'd down the Abbeys in the Time of King Henry the Eight His Education in his Youth was for a Time at the University of Cambridge where though he attained to no great Perfection in Learning yet with his other Additionals the Fox's Tail with the Lion's Skin his Strength of Reason with the sharp Edge of his Sword stood him in great Stead in his After-tranfactions and which together with his indefatigable Industry render'd him so fortunate that he never fell short of what he undertook After his Return from the University without any extraordinary Respects from the Muses whose Unkindness he afterwards most severely retaliated he resolved for the Future upon the first Advantage to try the Fortune of Mars but long it was ere the blind Goddess provided him any Action during which Time he married a Gentlewoman of the ancient Family of the Bourchiers whence the Earls of Essex were descended by whom he had two Sons that survived him Richard and Henry and three Daughters Bridget Mary and Frances For his private Fortunes they were competent a Mediocrity betwixt Riches and Poverty the one blunting the Edge of Wit and Industry the other by its Hardship whetting it quite away But what was wanting in his Estate was supplied in the greatness of his Mind which put him upon high Attemps which proved so successful that at last they placed him at the Helm of Government He took his first Rise from the long Parliament where he was a Member being chosen Burgess for the University of Cambridge in this Parliament that Fire burst forth which had been long before in kindling that fatal Division betwixt King and Parliament with which last he wholly sided What Motives induced him thereunto I know not nor will I determine of the Integrity of his Choice this I am sure of he took the more fortunate or by his Manhood made it so When he delivered his Mind in the House it was with a strong and masculine Eloquence more able to perswade than to be perswaded his Expressions were hardy Opinions resolute Asseverations grave and vehement always intermixt Andronicus like with Sentences of Scripture to give them the greater Weight and the better to insinuate into the Affections of the People he expressed himself with some kind of Passon but with such a commanding wise Deportment that at his Pleasure he governed and swayed the House as he had most Times the leading Voice Those who find no such Wonders in his Speeches may find it in the Effect of them most of the People he was concerned in being as they term it Enemies to Book-learning and whosoever should endeavour with an eloquent Oration or otherwise go about to reconcile them and make Friends should make them Enemies such great Adorers are they of the Scripture Phrase though but little Practicer's such as our late Times have brought forth Indeed he usurp'd his holy Oil Quotations very frequently which were so advantageous to his Designs that Cicero and Demosthenes with all their Troops and Figures could never have so perswaded and moved the People as he with one Text of Scripture aptly applied the Dove and the Serpent of Scripture and some small Parcel of Policy to what he intended slily intermixed But his Side standing more in need of Action then Eloquence he quitted the House and betook him to the Field to manifest his Courage as well as his Eloquence maintain by his Deeds what his Words had introduced Having raised a Troop of Horse at his own Costs and Charges he marched against the Muses to Cambridge whereof he was Burges seizing on a very considerable Sum of Money and Plate which the Colleges had raised and were sending away unto Oxford which as it was very advantageous to his own Side Money being the very Lise and Sinews of War so did it much weaken the
of his People be delivered into their Enemies Hands All which being sadly and seriously considered by the honest People of the Nation as well as by the Army it seemed a Duty incumbent upon us who had seen much of the power and presence of God to consider of some effectual means whereby to establish Righteousness and Peace in these Nations And after much debate it was judged necessary that the Supream Government should be by the Parliament devolved upon known Persons fearing God and of approved integrity for a time as the most hopeful way to countenance all God's People reform the Law and administer Justice impartially hoping thereby the People might forget Monarchy and understand their true Interest in the election of successive Parliaments that so the Government might be settled upon a right Basis without hazard to this glorious cause or necessitating to keep up Armies for the defence of the same And being still resolved to use all means possibly to avoid extraordiany courses we prevailed with about twenty Members of Parliament to give us a conference with whom we plainly debated the necessity and justness of our Proposals The which found no acceptance but instead thereof it was offered that the way was to continue still this Parliament as being that from which we might probably expect all good things This being vehehemently insisted on did much confirm us in our apprehensions That not any love to a Representative but the making use thereof to recruit and so to perpetuate themselves was their aim in the Act they had then under consideration For preventing the consumating whereof and all the sad and evil consequences which upon the grounds a foresaid must have ensued and whereby at one Blow the interest of all honest Men and of this glorious Cause had been endangered to be laid in the dust and these Nations embroyled in new Troubles at a time when our Enemies abroad are watching all Advantages against and some of them actually engaged in War with us we have been necessitated though with much reluctancy to put an end to this Parliament This Declaration was seconded by another for settling a Councel of State to give some Satisfaction to the People what Government they intended which Declaration for the Readers further Satisfaction take as followeth Whereas the Parliament being dissolved Persons of approved Fidelity and Honesty are according to the late Declararation of the 22. of April last to be called from the several parts of this Common-wealth to the Supream Authority and although effectual proceedings are and have been had for perfecting those Resolutions yet some convenient time being required for the assembling of those Persons it hath been found necessary for preventing the mischiefs and inconveniencies which may arise in the mean while to the publick Affairs that a Councel of State be constituted to take care of and intend the Peace Safety and present Management of the Affairs of this Common-wealth which being settled accordingly the same is hereby declared and published to the end all Persons may take notice thereof and in their several places and Stations demean themselves peaceably giving Obedience to the Laws of the Nation as heretofore in the exercise and administration thereof as endeavours shall be used that no oppression or wrong shall be done to the People so a strict accompt will be required of all such as shall do any thing to endanger the Publick peace and quiet upon any pretence whatsoever April 30. 1653. O. Cromwel These domestick revolutions put new Life into the Dutch who hoping from these Distractions to reap a Victory over the English with great confidence put forth again to Sea thinking upon nothing so much as Chapmen for the English Fleet saying It was to be cried out by the sound of Trumpetâ— and Horns But they were deceived in their expectation for coming to a Fight on the North Foreland near unto the South poinâ— of the Gobes their Fleet was defeated eleven Men of War and two Water Hove being taken besides six Captains and fiâ—teen hundred Prisoners and six Men 〈◊〉 War which were sunk Not long after to set the better face oâ— his resolute proceedings Cromwel calls 〈◊〉 another Parliament convened at Westminster who met July 4. 1653. to whom Generall Cromwel made a long Speech Then he produced an Instrument under his own Hand and Seal whereby the Supream Authority of the Nation was devolved upon them unto whom all Persons were to yeild obedience and subjection He delared that they were to sit no longer then the third of November 1654. and three months before their dissolution they were to make choice of others to succeed them who were not to sit above twelve months and then to take care for a succession in Government Now was the time come for the train to take the Dutch having as hath been expressed cast the Urine of the present Affairs being quite tired with then continual losses sent Commissioners over into England to treat of Peace It hath been the result of the opinions of those that had their Eyes in their Heads that the Dutch thought to have made up their Mouths to have taken our Navy napping in the time of the Treaty the Fight happening betwixt theâ—â— and us but they found it otherwise their whole Fleet was put to slight their 〈◊〉 Van Trump a Man of eminent 〈◊〉 being slain about thirty Men of War suck and fired six Captains and about a thousand Men taken Prisoners and about six thousand slain This great Victory did not a little conduce to hasten the conclusion of the Peace but on such terms as were at that time more honourable for his present Designs than advantageous to the English Nation For this service gold Chains were presented to the Generals Blake Monk Renne and Lawson and to the other Flag Captains and silver Medals to the other Officers of the Fleet. The Parliament having sat about as many Weeks as the other had done Years they dissolved themselves immediately making way for General Cromwel by their dissolution to be chosen Lord Protector of the Common-wealth of England Scotland and Ireland and of all the Islands and Territories thereunto belonging December the 16 1653. The Articles of the Government to which he signed are as followeth 1. That his Excellency be chief Protector of the three Nations of England Scotland and Ireland 2. That he will call to his assistance Councellors not under the Number of thirteen nor above twenty one 3. That he shall not act without the advice of his Council 4. That here shall be every three Years a Parliament called freely chosen to begin in September next viz. four hundred and the Number for every County proportionable 5. That no Parliament shall adjourn till they have sat above five Months 6. When ever any Bill is passed in Parliament the Lord Protector shall have twenty Days to advise with his Council if he sign it not in twenty Days it shall pass without unless contrary to these
labour till he shall be released by Parliament and during that time be debarred the use of Pen Ink and Paper and shall have no relief but what he earns by his daily Labour which accordingly was executed upon him December 17. 1656. His Flies and Familiars were still useful to him for the discovering of more strange designs the revealing of which no Question kept many Conspiracies from being attempted to which effect there is yet another Plot against the Protectors Life intended by Miles Sindercomb alias Fish one who had formerly been a Parliament Soldier under the command of Sir John Reynolds together with one Cecil induced thereunto as is said by Don Alonso the late Spanish Ambassador to the effecting their designs they are said to have hired a House at Hammersmith adjoining by the High-way side to have shot him in his Coach as he passed by but that failing they intended to have shot him in Hide-Park and to that purpose they filed off the Hinges of the Gates for their better escape and this miscarrying they intended to have fired White Hall For these Offences Sindercomb was arraigned at the Upper Bench Bar in Westminster Hall February 9. 1656. where being found guilty by the Jury he was condemned to be hanged drawn and quartered at Tyburn but before his Execution he was found dead in his Bed and several presumptions of a violent Death appearing on him it was concluded he poysoned himself Afterwards he was drawn from the Tower unto Tower-hill at a Horse's-Tail with his Head forward and there under the Scaffold turned into a hole stark naked and a Stake spiked and plated with Iron driven thro' him into the Earth It is to be observed that whatsoever the vigilancy of the Guard of the Tower was over this Gentleman that he died with as fresh a Colour as Sir Thomas Overbury is said to have expired with But to return where we left that successful Sea-man General Blake the Protectors intended Drake an honest stout incomparable Sea-man he failing with his Fleet to Sancta Cruza in the Island of Teneriff in which Port lay sixteen great Spanish Vessels laden with rich Merchandizes from the Indies He on the 20th of April 1657. set upon them and destroyed them all not sixty of his own Men being lost But to return June the 20. 1657 the Protector with great Magnificence was installed at Westminster the Parliament then sitting and in Westminster Hall a rich Cloth of State was set up and under it a Chair of State placed upon an ascent of two degrees covered with Carpets and before it a Table with a Chair appointed for the Speaker of the Parliament and on each side of the Hall upon the said Structure were Seats raised one above another and decently covered for the Members of Parliament and below them Seats on one side for the Judges of the Land and on the other side for the Aldermen of the City of London About two of the Clock in the Afternoon the Protector met the Parliament in the Painted Chamber and passed such Bills as were presented to him after which they went in order to the place appointed in Westminster Hall the Protector standing under the Cloth of Estate the Lord Widdrington Speaker of the Parliament addrest himself to him in this Speech May it please your Highness You are now upon a great Theatre in a large Chore of People you have the Parliament of England Scotland and Ireland before you on your Right Hand my Lords the Judges and on your Left-Hand the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Sheriffs of London the most noble and populous City of England The Parliament with the Interposition of your sufferage makes Laws and the Judges and Governours of London are the great Dispencers of those Laws to the People The Occasion of this great Convention and Intercourse is to give an Investiture to your Highness in that eminent Place of Lord Protector a Name you had before but it is now settled by the full and unanimous consent of the People of these three Nations assembled in Parliament you have no new Name but a new date added to the old Name the 16 of December is now changed to the 26 of June I am commanded by the Parliament to make oblation to your Highness of four Things in order to this Inauguration The first is a Robe of Purple an Emblem of Magistracy and imports Righteousness and Justice when you have put on the Vestment I may say and I hope without Offence that you are a Gown Man This Robe is of a mixt Colour to shew the mixture of Justice and Mercy which are then most excellent when they are well tempered together Justice without Mercy is Wormwood and Bitterness and Mercy without Justice is of a too soft a Temper for Government for a Magistrate must have two Hands Plectentem Amplectentem The next thing is a Bible a Book that contains the Holy Scripture in which you have the Honour and Happiness to be well versed This is the Book of Life consisting of two Testaments the Old and New In the first we have Christum velatum Christ in Types Shadows and Figures in the latter we have Christum revelatum Christ revealed This Book carries in it the grounds of the true Christian Protestant Religion it's a Book of Books it contains in it both precepts and examples for good Government Alexander so highly valued the Books of his Master Aristotle and other great Princes other Books that they have laid them every Night under their Pillows These are all but Legends and Romances to this one Book at Book to be had always in remembrance I find it said in a Part of this Book which I shall desire to read and it is this Deut. 17. And it shall be when he sitteth upon the Throne of his Kingdom that he shall write a Copy of this Law in a Book out of that which is before the Priests and Levites And it shall be with him and he shall read therein all the Days of his Life that he may learn to fear the Lord God and to keep all the Words of his Law and those Statutes to do them That his Heart be not lifted up above his Brethren and that he turn not aside from the Commandment to the Right Hand or to the Left to the end he may prolong his Days in his Kingdom he and his Children in the midst of Israel The next Thing that I am to offer to your Highness is a Scepter not unlike a Staff for you are to be a Staff to the Weak and Poor it's of ancient use in this kind it's said in Scripture in reference to Judah the Royal Tribe That the Scepter shall not depart from Judah It was of like use in other Kingdoms and Governments Homer the Prince of the Greek Poets calls Kings and Princes Scepter-bearers The last Thing is a Sword not a Military but a Civil Sword a Sword rather for a Defence than an Offence not to defend
your self only but others also the Sword is an Emblem of Justice The noble Lord Talbot in Henry the Sixths time wrote upon his Sword Ego sum Talboti propter occidendum inimicos meos This Gallant Lord was a better Souldier then a Critick If I might presume to fix a Motto upon this Sword it should be this Ego sum Demini Protectoris ad protegendum populum meum I say this Sword is an Emblem of Justice and is to be used as King Solomon used his for the discovery of truth in the points of Justice I may say of this Sword as King David said of Goliah's Sword There is none like this Justice is the proper Vertue of the Imperial Throne and by Justice the Thrones of Kings and Princes are established Justice is a Royal Vertue which as one saith of it doth employ the other three Cardinal Vertues in her service 1. Wisdom to discern the nocent from the Innocent 2. Fortitude to prosecute and execute 3. Temperance so to carry Justice that Passion be no ingredient and that it be without confusion or precipitation You have given ample Testimony in aâ—â— these particulars so that this Sword in your Hand will be a right Sword of Justice attended with Wisdom Fortitude and Temperance When you have all these together what a comely and glorious fight is it to behold A Lord Protector in a Purple Robe with a Scepter in his Hand a Sword of Justice girt about him and his Eyes fixt upon the Bible Long may you prosperously enjoy them all to your own comfort and the comfort of the People of these three Nations The Speech being ended Master Speaker came from his Chair took the Robe and therewith vested the Protector being assisted therein by the Earl of Warwick the Lord Whitlock and others Which done the Bible was delivered him after that the Sword girt about him and last of all he had the Scepter delivered him These Things being performed Master Speaker returned unto his Chair and administred him his Oath in haec verba I do in the Presence and by the Name of God Almighty promise and swear that to the uttermost of my Power I will uphold and maintain the true Reformed Protestant Christian Religion in the Purity thereof as it is contained in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to the uttermost of my Power and Vnderstanding and encourage the Profession and Professors of the same and that to the utmost of my Power I will endeavour as Chief Magistrate of these three Nations the Maintenance and Preservation of the Peace and Safety and just Rights and Priviledge of the People thereof and shall in all Things according to our best â—est Knowledge and Power govern the People of these three Nations according to Law These Ceremonies being performed a Herald of Arms by sound of Trumpet proclaimed him Lord Protector of England Scotland Ireland and the Dominions thereto belonging hereupon the Trumpets sounded again and the People after the usual manner gave several Acclamations with loud shouts crying God save the Lord Protector His Highness had scarce accepted of these Honours but as if the ill affected would not let him breath yet another Plot is discovered Collonel Edward Sexby is said to have conspired against the Lord Protector for which he was committed to the Tower where having continued about half a Year he died But to reflect a little back Mazarine that great Minister of State on which hinge all the grand Affairs of France turn perfects a Peace with England the Protector having no regard to those Advantages that Spain might render him as to Commerce the Places of Hostage which she proffered to put into his Hands as Gravelin Dunkirk and others he was swayed with other Interest which he best understood himself to prefer an Alliance and League with France before all those Advantages except his civility induc'd him which seldom had such Power over him to look more lovingly upon France as the weakest at that time being abandoned by some of her Allies as quite disordered by an Intestine War in her own Bowels her Navigation totally ruined as the Pirates of Dunkirk had blockt up all her Sea Ports whereas the English scowred those Seas cast away the Pyrates and reduced the Mounsieur and Diego by their successes to their so likely advantageous Peace Indeed as one writes it was a high generosity since the English caused the French to lose Graveling and Dunkirk to help France again to take those places In the mean Space was not here rare bandying of Interests France having thus perfected a Peace with England they joyntly resolve to â—ainst the Spaniard hereupon Articleâ— Reynolds with six thousand Foot was sent into Picardy to joyn with the French Cavalry which compleated as gallant an Army as had been seen in France for many Years together These jointly besiege and take Mardike a strong Fort of the Spaniards in Flanders whereof Major General Morgan took Possession for the English as the earnest of further Conquests which the Spaniards attempting for to regain were twice repulsed with very great loss But the Joy of these Successes was mitigated by the Death of Admiral Blake who as he got his Honour by the Sea died on it and that within sight of Plimouth He was a Man who had deserved of his Country and might justly be stiled the Neptune thereof His Body was brought with a Naval pomp by Water from Greenwich to Westminster being a suitable Ceremony to â—his Employment and was there buried in Henry the Seventh's Chappel Upon whom an Ingenious Person bestowed this Epitaph Here lies a Man made Spain and Holland shake Made France to tremble and the Turks to quake Thus he tam'd Men but if a Lady stood 〈◊〉 sight it rais'd a Palsie in his blood agonist who in his Life Had Fortune as familiar as a Wife A stiff hard Iron Souldier for he It seems had more of Mars than Mercury At Sea he thundered calm'd each raging Wave And now he's dead sent thundring to his Grave Soon after was St. Venant taken by the English the Lord Henry Cromwel made Deputy of Ireland Sir John Reynolds Collonel White and some other Officers drowned upon Goodwin Sands as they were coming out of Flanders into England One writes that the subtilty of discovering of Plots though but in the Embrio or before they are hatcht in the time of Peace is the most succinct way of letting of Blood March 24. the last Day of the Year accounted for 1657. a great Conspiracy was again discovered in London several Regiments as was said being enrolled who on the first day of May in the Night Time should have set Fire on several parts of the City and whilst the Confusion and Horrour thereof had seized all Men they should have made a general massacre of all who opposed them Hereupon several Persons were apprehended as Doctor Hewet Sir Henry Slingsby Collonel Ashton c. and a High Court of Justice