Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 62.djvu/271

 of Cromwell are the main theme of ‘The Modern States-man’ (1653 and 1654); ‘The Protector. A poem’ (1655 and 1656, 8vo); ‘Vaticinium Causuale [sic]: a rapture occasioned by the late miraculous Deliverance of his Highnesse the Lord Protector from a desperate danger,’ a poem (1656, 14 Oct. 4to); ‘Boni Ominis Votum,’ a congratulatory poem on the parliament of 1656 (28 July 1656); ‘A Cause allegorically stated,’ 1657; ‘A Sudden Flash … by Britains Remembrancer,’ 1657, a long poem dedicated to the Protector; and ‘A private Address to the said Oliver,’ 1657–8.

Wither's support of Cromwell's government did not go wholly without reward, although no substantial aid was afforded him. He had gained little hitherto by his political partisanship. From 1645 onwards he had occupied himself in ‘discovering’ the estates of royalist delinquents, and was granted on paper much confiscated property in Surrey, but, owing to various accidents, he failed to secure permanent possession of any portion of it. Sir John Denham's lands at East Horsley were for a short time under his control, as well as the estate of Stanislaus Browne at Pirbright, but he gained little by the temporary seizure (cf. Cal. Committee for Advance of Money, i. 515, ii. 872–3; Cal. Committee for Compounding, pp. 972–3, 1792; cf. Hist. MSS. Comm., Duke of Portland's MSS. i. 195). In ‘A Thankful Retribution’ (1649, in verse) he expressed gratitude to a few members of parliament who had vainly urged the bestowal on him of an office in the court of chancery. He seems to have been appointed later a commissioner for levying assessments in support of the army in the county of Surrey. In 1650, too, the commons, in reply to his numerous petitions, acknowledged that a sum approaching 4,000l. was due to him, and it was arranged that an annual income amounting to 8 per cent. on a portion of it should be secured to him (Commons' Journals, vi. 519). At the same time an order was made for settling 150l. a year upon him from Sir John Denham's lands ‘in full satisfaction of all other demands.’ But his financial position was not permanently improved, and he sought further official work. In 1653 he was employed as a commissioner for the sale of the king's goods (Cal. Clarendon Papers, ii. 171). In 1655 a clerkship in the statute office of the court of chancery was bestowed on him. But his needs were still unsatisfied, and he repeated his old grievances in a new series of printed petitions which only ceased with his life.

On Cromwell's death Wither appealed to his son Richard to carry on the traditions of his father's rule, as well as to relieve his own sufferings (cf. Petition and Narrative of George Wither, Esq., 1658?; Epistolicum-Vagum-Prosa-Metricum, 1659). In ‘A Cordial of Confection’ (1659) he admitted the possibility of the restoration of Charles II under certain conditions. But when the Restoration was assured, he expressed his apprehensions with a frankness that gave him a new notoriety (cf. Salt upon Salt, a poem on Cromwell's death, 1659; Fides Anglicana, 1660; Furor Poeticus, 1660; Speculum Speculativum, 1660, three editions, a long poem in verse dedicated to the king). In the last days of the Commonwealth he resided at Hambledon, Hampshire, but he returned to London, to a house in the Savoy, in 1660. His attitude attracted the attention of the authorities; his papers were searched, and an unpublished manuscript reflecting on the reactionary temper of the House of Commons led to his prosecution by order of parliament. The paper, which was in verse, was entitled ‘Vox Vulgi. Being a welcome home from the Counties, Citties, and Burroughs, to their prevaricating Members: saving the honour of the House of Commons, and of every faithfull and discreet individual Member thereof.’ ‘This was intended (he said) to have been offered to the private consideration of the Lord Chancellor [Earl of Clarendon]: but had been seized upon when unfinished, and its author taken into custody.’ On his arrest in August 1660 Wither was committed to Newgate. He was brought before the House of Commons on 24 March 1661–2, and was then committed to the Tower to await impeachment (Duke of Somerset MSS., Hist. MSS. Comm. 15th Rep. vii. 93). On 3 April 1662 the king was thanked for his arrest. Six days later a petition was read on his behalf, and his wife was allowed access to him in order that he might be induced to recant (Commons' Journals, 1662–3). No further proceedings against him were taken. He remained a prisoner till 27 July 1663, when he was released on giving a bond for good behaviour. The offending poem, ‘Vox Vulgi,’ was not printed at the time, and remained in manuscript among the Earl of Clarendon's papers in the Bodleian Library till 1880, when the Rev. W. D. Macray published it in ‘Anecdota Bodleiana’ (pt. ii.)

During his imprisonment Wither's pen was never idle for a moment. He explained the meaning of his ‘Vox Vulgi’ in a miscellaneous collection of verse entitled ‘An Improvement … evidenced in Crums and Scraps,’ 1661 (cf. The Triple Paradox, printed for the author, 1661, moralisings in