Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 13.djvu/159

 danger of Cromwell's resignation or removal, shows the feelings with which this party regarded his rule (ib. v. 646). The presbyterians and the more moderate sects of independents, hitherto oppressed by the predominance enjoyed by the anabaptists, expressed a like satisfaction with his government (, Letters to O. Cromwell, 137 ;, iv. 286). With the anabaptist leaders Cromwell had, in January 1656, an interview, in which he very plainly stated his intentions towards them. ‘I told them plainly that they might expect equal liberty in their spiritual and civil concernments with any others; and. . . that I held myself obliged in duty to protect them from being imposed upon by any; as also to keep them from doing the like to others. Liberty and countenance they might expect from me, but to rule me, or to rule with me, I should not approve of’ (, iv. 433). This line of conduct he faithfully followed in spite of many provocations. His adversaries were powerful in England, and continually at the ear of the Protector; but Oliver, though chary of praise, and not giving his son all the public support he expected, approved of his conduct in this matter. At the same time he warned him against being ‘over jealous,’ and ‘making it a business to be too hard’ for those who contested with him (, Cromwell, Letters cvii. cviii.) In truth Henry’s great weakness lay in the fact that he was too sensitive and irritable. His letters are a long series of complaints, and he continually talks of resigning his office. One of the first of his troubles was the mutinous condition of Ludlow's regiment, which he took the precaution of disbanding as soon as possible (, iii. 715, iv. 74). Then, without Cromwell’s knowledge, petitions were got up by his partisans for his appointment to Fleetwood's post, which afforded Hewson and other anabaptists the opportunity of public protests on behalf of their old commander, in which they identified the deputy’s supporters with the enemies of the godly interest (ib. iv. 276, 348). In November 1656 two generals and a couple of colonels simultaneously threw up their commissions on account of their dissatisfaction with Henry’s policy (ib. v. 670). Just as he was congratulating himself that the opposition of the anabaptists was finally crushed, he was involved in fresh perplexities by the intrigues and resignation of Steele, the Irish chancellor (ib. vii. 199). After the second foundation of the protectorate by the ‘Petition and Advice,’ Cromwell was at length appointed lord-lieutenant by commission dated 16 Nov. 1657 (14th Rep. of Deputy-Keeper of Irish Records, p. 29;, vi. 446, 632). His new ran gave him more dignity and more responsibility, but did not increase his power or put an end to his difficulties. His promotion was accompanied by the appointment of a new Irish council, ‘the major art of whom,’ wrote Henry to his brother Richard, ‘were men of a professed spirit of contradiction to whatsoever I would have, and took counsel together how to lay wait for me without a cause’ (, vii. 400). His popularity was shown by a vote of parliament on 8 June 1657, settling upon him lands to the value of 1,500l. a year, which he refused on the ground of the poverty of Ireland and the indebtedness of England (, Diary, ii. 197-224). At the time of his appointment the pay of the Irish army was eight months in arrear, and 180,000l., owing from the English exchequer, was necessary to clear the engagements of the Irish government (ib. vi. 649, 657). The difficulty of obtaining this money, as also the appointment of the hostile councillors, he attributed to his adversaries in the Protector's council. ‘Those who were against my coming to this employment, by keeping back our monies have an after game to play, for it is impossible for me to continue in this place upon so huge disadvantages’ (ib. vi. 651, 665). He was also charged to disband a large part of the Irish army, but not allowed to have a voice in the management of disbanding. He endeavoured to devise means of raising the money to pay them in Ireland, but found the country was too poor, and the taxes far heavier than in England (ib. vi. 684, vii. 72). By using the utmost economy he wrote that 196,000l. might suffice for the present, but all he seems to have obtained was the promise of 30,000l. (ib. vi. 683, vii. 100). To have succeeded under such unfavourable circumstances in maintaining tranqutility and apparent contentment is no small proof of Cromwell’s ability as a ruler. ‘The hypocrisy of men may be deep,’ he wrote in April 1658, ‘but really any indifferent spectator would gather, from the seeming unanimity and affection of the people of Ireland, that his highness’s interest is irresistible here’ (ib. vii. 101). The adversaries who rendered the task of governing Ireland so burdensome appear to have been the leaders of the military party who surrounded the Protector. Henry Cromwell frequently refers to them in terms of dislike and distrust, especially in his letters to Thurloe during 1657 and 1658. He considered them as opposed to any legal settlement and desirous to perpetuate their own arbitrary power (ib. vi. 93). On the question of the acceptance of the crown offered to his father in 1657 his own views were almost exactly the same as those of the Protector himself. From the first Henry held the constitution sketched