Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 32.djvu/21

 wish Lambert were dead,' writes one of these agents the day after Cromwell's death, 'for I find the army much devoted to him, but I cannot perceive that he is in any way to be reconciled to the king, so that 'tis no small danger that his reputation with the army may thrust Dick Cromwell out of the saddle and yet not help the king into it' (ib. iii. 408). Richard Cromwell's advisers were very sensible of the danger. They sought to conciliate Lambert, sent him mourning for the late Protector's funeral, and received in return the assurance of his fidelity (, vii. 415;, Richard Cromwell, i. 238).

Lambert took no part in the military intrigues of October and November 1658. He was elected to the parliament of 1659 both for Aldborough and Pontefract, but preferred to sit for the latter. When the bill for the recognition of the new protector was brought in, he gave a general support to it. 'We are all,' he said, 'for this honourable person that is now in power.' At the same time he urged the house to limit the protector's power over 'the military forces, and his negative voice in legislation. 'The best man is but a man at the best. I have had great cause to know it.' Therefore. whatever engagement they entered into with their protector, 'let the people's liberties be on the back of the bond' (, iii. 185-91, 231, 323, 334). In a similar spirit he supported the foreign policy of the new government, but expected to the admission of the Irish and Scottish members to parliament (ib. iii. 400, iv. 174). It is evident that he endeavoured to ingratiate himself with the republican party, and to apologise for his share in turning out the Long parliament (, vii. 660). But he was no longer a member of the army, and was not in the councils of the Wallingford House party. In spite of rumours and suspicions it is not clear that he took any part in concerting the coup d'état which obliged Richard Cromwell to dissolve his parliament (22 April 1659).

Lambert now recovered his old position. Fleetwood and Desborough had laboured, but be reaped the fruit of their victory. The inferior officers obliged them to recall the Long parliament and to restore Lambert to his commands. He became once more colonel of two regiments, and acted as the chief representative of the army in the negotiations which preceded the restoration of the parliament (, Richard Cromwell, i. 374, 379 ;, Chronicle, ad. Phillips, 1670, p. 659; , p. 645), He presented to (7 May) the declaration in which the army invited the members of the Long parliament to return, and the larger declaration in which the soldiers summed up their political demands (13 May; , pp. 691–694). Parliament in return elected Lambert a member of the committee of Safety (9 May), and of the council of state (13 May), and one of the seven commissioners for the nomination of officers (4 June). He received on 11 June the commissions for his own two regiments from the hands of the speaker (Commons' Journals, vii. 680). But this harmony did not lost long. The promise act of indemnity was delayed, and seemed to him when passed to leave those who had acted under Cromwell at the mercy of the parliament. 'I know not,' said he, 'why they should not be at our mercy as well as we at theirs' (, pp. 661, 677). But Lambert's revelation of some offers made to him by the royalists restored the confidence of the parliament, and on 6 Aug. he was appointed to command the forces sent to subdue Sir George Booth's rising (ib. p. 691; Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1659–60, p. 76). He defeated Booth at Winwick Bridle, near Northwich, in Cheshire (19 Aug.), and recaptured Chester city (21 Aug.) and Chirk Castle (24 Aug.) (The Lord Lambert's Letter to the Speaker, &,c., 4to, 1659; a Second and Third Letter from the Lord Lambert, &c.;, Original Letters, li. 196). Parliament voted Lambert a jewel worth 1,000l., but rejected a proposal of Fleetwood's to appoint him major-general (, p. 695; Commons' Journals, vii. 786;, i. 464). Lambert's officers thereupon agitated for his appointment, and assembling at Derby drew up an address to the house (The humble Petition and Proposals of the Officers under the command of the Lord Lambert in the late Northern Expedition;, p. 677). Parliament ordered Fleetwood to stop the further progress of the petition (23 Sept.), and some members even urged that Lambert should be sent to the Tower (, pp. 706, 719;, i. 479, 483). They also passed a vote that to have any more general officers would be 'needless, chargeable, and dangerous to the commonwealth' (Commons' Journals, vii. 785). The general council of the army now met, vindicated the petition of the northern brigade, and added many demands of their own (5 Oct.;, p. 679). Some of these the parliament granted, but learning that the council were seeking subscriptions to their petition from the officers throughout the three kingdoms, they suddenly cashiered Lambert and other leaders (12 Oct. 1659; Commons' Journals, vii. 796). Lambert had disavowed the Derby petition and remained as passive spectator of the quarrel. He now collected the regiments who adhered to him,