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 CROMWELL. 313

of it, said they did not pour water upon its root, but wa-hrd the branches to refresh them. It produces an immense quantity of fruit ; in some seasons, we were told, about 1,400 pounds weight, or between 2,000 and 3,000 rich black clustres, all of which are reserved for the royal table.

Cromwell, in the height of his power, was fond of residing at Hampton Court. Here he solemnized with pomp the entrance of two of his daughters into the line of the high nobility; one by her marriage with Lord Falconburg, the other with Lord Rich, heir to the earldom of Warwick. Here, too, his favorite daugh ter, Mrs. Claypole, was smitten with death, and in her last life-struggle warned him of sin, and adjured him to repentance. Her earnest words, mingled with moans of pain, haunted his conscience as he wandered from room to room, in the restlessness of the disease that at length destroyed him. &quot; It was at this period,&quot; says Howitt, in his interesting Visits to Remarkable Places, &quot; that George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends, coming to Hampton Court, to beg him to put a stop to religious persecution, met him riding in the park, and in his own expressive language, as he drew near him, felt a waft of death go forth from him ; and coming up to him, beheld him with astonishment, looking already like a dead man. George had been accustomed to have interviews with Cromwell, who used to express great pleasure in his society, and would say, Come again, come often, for I feel that if thou and I were oftener together, we should be nearer to each other.

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