William Lilly's History of His Life and Times Part 5

'Mistress,' said he, 'what colour was those beasts that you were so terrified with?'

'I never saw any,' said she.

'How do you then know they were lions, tygers, or bears?' replied he.--'This is an idle person, only fit for Bedlam.' The Jury who went not from the bar, brought in, No true Bill.

There were many Presbyterian Justices much for her, and especially one Roberts, a busy fellow for the Parliament, who after his Majesty came in, had like to have lost life and fortune.

I had procured Justice Hooker to be there, who was the oracle of all the Justices of Peace in Middles.e.x.

There was nothing memorable after that happened unto me, until 1650, and the month of October, at what time Captain Owen c.o.x brought me over from his Majesty of Sweden, a gold chain and medal, worth about fifty pounds; the cause whereof was, that in the year 1657 and 1658, I had made honourable mention of him: the _Anglicus_ of 1658 being translated into the language spoke at Hamburgh, printed and cried about the streets, as it is in London.

The occasion of my writing so honourably of his Majesty of Sweden was this: Sir Bolstrode Whitlock, Knight, upon the very time of Oliver's being made Protector, having made very n.o.ble articles betwixt Christina then Queen of Sweden, and the English nation, was in his being at Stockholm visited frequently by Charles Gustavus, unto whom Christina resigned during his abode, and used with all manner of civility by him, insomuch as some other Amba.s.sadors took it ill, that they had not so much respect or equal: unto which he would reply, he would be kind where himself did find just cause of merit unto any. He were a great lover of our nation; but there were some other causes also moving my pen to be so liberal, viz. The great hopes I had of his prevailing, and of taking Copenhagen and Elsinore, which, if he had lived, was hoped he might have accomplished; and had a.s.suredly done, if Oliver the Protector had not so untimely died ere our fleet of s.h.i.+ps returned; for Oliver sent the fleet on purpose to fight the Dutch; but dying, and the Parliament being restored, Sir Henry Vane, who afterwards was beheaded, had order from the Council of State to give order to the fleet what to do now Oliver was dead, and themselves restored. Vane, out of state-policy, gave the Earl of Sandwich direction not to fight the Dutch. Captain Symons, who carried those letters, swore unto me, had he known the letters he carried had contained any such prohibition, he would have sunk both s.h.i.+p and letters. Oliver said, when the fleet was to go forth, 'That if G.o.d blessed his Majesty of Sweden with Copenhagen, the English were to have Elsinore as their share; which if once I have,' saith Oliver, 'the English shall have the whole trade of the Baltick Sea: I will make the Dutch find another pa.s.sage, except they will pay such customs as I shall impose.' Considering the advantages this would have been to our English, who can blame my pen for being liberal, thereby to have encouraged our famous and n.o.ble seamen, or for writing so honourably of the Swedish nation, who had most courteously treated my best of friends, Sir Bolstrode Whitlock, and by whose means, had the design taken effect, the English nation had been made happy with the most beneficial concern of all Christendom. I shall conclude about Oliver the then Protector, with whom obliquely I had transactions by his son-in-law, Mr. Cleypool; and to speak truly of him, he sent one that waited upon him in his chamber, once in two or three days, to hear how it fared with me in my sessions business; but I never had of him, directly or indirectly, either pension, or any the least sum of money, or any gratuity during his whole Protectors.h.i.+p; this I protest to be true, by the name and in the name of the most holy G.o.d.

In 1653, before the dissolution of the Parliament, and that ere they had chosen any for their Amba.s.sador into Sweden, Mr. Cleypool came unto me, demanding of me whom I thought fittest to send upon that emba.s.sy into Sweden: I nominated Sir B. Whitlock, who was chosen, and two or three days after Mr. Cleypool came again: 'I hope, Mr. Lilly, my father hath now pleased you: Your friend Sir B. Whitlock is to go for Sweden.' But since I have mentioned Oliver Cromwell, I will relate something of him, which perhaps no other pen can, or will mention. He was born of generous parents in Huntingdons.h.i.+re, educated some time at the university of Cambridge: in his youth was wholly given to debauchery, quarrelling, drinking, &c. _quid non_; having by those means wasted his patrimony, he was enforced to bethink himself of leaving England, and go to New-England: he had hired a pa.s.sage in a s.h.i.+p, but ere she launched out for her voyage, a kinsman dieth, leaving him a considerable fortune; upon which he returns, pays his debts, became affected to religion; is elected in 1640 a member of Parliament, in 1642 made a Captain of horse under Sir Philip Stapleton, fought at Edge-Hill; after he was made a Colonel, then Lieutenant-General to the Earl of Manchester, who was one of the three Generals to fight the Earl of Newcastle and Prince Rupert at York: Ferdinando Lord Fairfax, and Earl Leven the Scot, were the other two for the Parliament: the last two thinking all had been lost at Marston-Moor fight, Fairfax went into Cawood Castle, giving all for lost: at twelve at night there came word of the Parliament's victory; Fairfax being then laid down upon a bed, there was not a candle in the castle, nor any fire: up riseth Lord Fairfax, procures after some time, paper, ink, and candle, writes to Hull, and other garrisons of the Parliament's, of the success, and then slept.

Leven the Scot asked the way to Tweed: the honour of that day's fight was given to Manchester, Sir Thomas Fairfax's brigade of horse, and Oliver Cromwell's iron sides; for Cromwell's horse, in those times, usually wore head-pieces, back and breast-plates of iron. After this victory Cromwell became gracious with the House of Commons, especially the Zealots, or Presbyterians, with whom at that time he especially joined; the name Independent, at that time, viz. 1644, being not so much spoken of.

There was some animosity at or before the fight, betwixt the Earl of Newcastle and Prince Rupert; for Newcastle being General of his Majesty's forces in the North, a person of valour, and well esteemed in those parts, took it not well to have a compet.i.tor in his concernments; for if the victory should fall on his Majesty's side, Prince Rupert's forces would attribute it unto their own General, viz. Rupert, and give him the glory thereof: but that it happened, Prince Rupert, in that day's fight, engaged the Parliament's forces too soon, and before the Earl of Newcastle could well come out of York with his army; by reason whereof, though Rupert had absolutely routed the Scots and the Lord Fairfax's forces; yet ere timely a.s.sistance could second his army, Sir Thomas Fairfax and Cromwell had put him to flight, and not long after all Newcastle's army. A most memorable action happened on that day.

There was one entire regiment of foot belonging to Newcastle, called the Lambs, because they were all new cloathed in white woollen cloth, two or three days before the fight. This sole regiment, after the day was lost, having got into a small parcel of ground ditched in, and not of easy access of horse, would take no quarter; and by mere valour, for one whole hour, kept the troops of horse from entering amongst them at near push of pike: when the horse did enter, they would have no quarter, but fought it out till there was not thirty of them living; those whose hap it was to be beaten down upon the ground as the troopers came near them, though they could not rise for their wounds, yet were so desperate as to get either a pike or sword, or piece of them, and to gore the troopers'

horses as they came over them, or pa.s.sed by them. Captain Camby, then a trooper under Cromwell, and an actor, who was the third or fourth man that entered amongst them, protested, he never in all the fights he was in, met with such resolute brave fellows, or whom he pitied so much, and said, 'he saved two or three against their wills.'

After the fight, Manchester marched slowly southward, &c. but at last came with his army to Newbury fight; which ended, he came for London, and there he accuseth Cromwell, being his Lieutenant, to the Parliament, of disobedience, and not obeying his orders.

The House of Commons acquaint Cromwell herewith, and charge him, as he would answer it before G.o.d, that the day following he should give them a full account of Manchester's proceedings, and the cause and occasion of their difference, and of the reasons why Manchester did not timely move westward for the relief of Ess.e.x, then in the west, who was absolutely routed, inforced to fly, all his foot taken, and all his ordnance and train of artillery, only the horse escaping. Cromwell the next day gave this account to Mr. Speaker in the House of Commons--by way of recrimination.

That after G.o.d had given them a successful victory at Marston over the King's forces, and that they had well refreshed their army, Manchester, by their order, did move southward, but with such slowness, that sometimes he would not march for three days together; sometimes he would lie still one day, then two days; whereupon he said, considering the Earl of Ess.e.x was in the west, with what success he then knew not, he moved Manchester several times to quicken his march to the west, for relief of Ess.e.x, if he were beaten, or to divert the King's forces from following of Ess.e.x; but he said Manchester still refused to make any haste; and that one day he said, 'If any man but yourself, Lieutenant, should so frequently trouble me, I would call him before a Council of War. We have beaten the King's forces in the north; if we should do so in the west, his Majesty is then undone: he hath many sons living; if any of them come to the Crown, as they well may, they will never forget us.' This Major Hammond, a man of honour, will justify as well as myself. After which he marched not at all, until he had order from the Committee to hasten westward, by reason of Ess.e.x's being lost in Cornwall, which then he did; and at Newbury fight, it is true, I refused to obey his directions and order: for this it was; his Majesty's horse being betwixt four and five thousand in a large common, in good order, he commands me, Mr. Speaker, to charge them; we having no way to come at them but through a narrow lane, where not above three horse could march abreast; whereby had I followed his order, we had been all cut off ere we could have got into any order. Mr. Speaker, (and then he wept; which he could do _toties quoties_) I, considering that all the visible army you then had, was by this counsel in danger to be lost, refused thus to endanger the main strength, which now most of all consisted of those horse under my command, &c.--This his recrimination was well accepted by the House of Commons, who thereupon, and from that time, thought there was none of the House of Lords very fit to be entrusted with their future armies, but had then thoughts of making a commoner their General; which afterwards they did, and elected Sir Thomas Fairfax their General, and Cromwell Lieutenant-General; but it was next spring first. Upon Ess.e.x's being lost in Cornwall, I heard Serjeant Maynard say, 'If now the King haste to London we are undone, having no army to resist him.'

His Majesty had many misfortunes ever attending him, during his abode at Oxford; some by reason of that great animosity betwixt Prince Rupert and the Lord Digby, each endeavouring to cross one another; but the worst of all was by treachery of several officers under his command, and in his service; for the Parliament had in continual pay one Colonel of the King's Council of War; one Lieutenant-Colonel; one Captain; one Ensign; one or two Serjeants; several Corporals, who had constant pay, and duly paid them every month, according to the capacity of their officers and places, and yet none of these knew any thing of each other's being so employed. There were several well-wishers unto the Parliament in Oxford, where each left his letter, putting it in at the hole of a gla.s.s-window, as he made water in the street. What was put in at the window in any of those houses, was the same day conveyed two miles off by some in the habit of town-gardeners, to the side of a ditch, where one or more were ever ready to give the intelligence to the next Parliament garrison: I was then familiar with all the spies that constantly went in and out to Oxford.

But once more to my own actions. I had, in 1652 and 1653 and 1654, much contention with Mr. Gatacre of Rotherhithe, a man endued with all kind of learning, and the ablest man of the whole synod of divines in the Oriental tongues.

The synod had concluded to make an exposition upon the bible; some undertook one book, some another. Gatacre fell upon _Jeremy_. Upon making his exposition on the 2d verse of the 10th chapter,

'Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the heathen are dismayed at them.'

In his _Annotations_ thereupon, he makes a scandalous exposition; and in express terms, hints at me, repeating _verbatim_, ten or twelve times, an _Epistle_ of mine in one of my former _Anglicus_.

The substance of my _Epistle_ was, that I did conceive the good angels of G.o.d did first reveal astrology unto mankind, &c. but he in his _Annotations_ calls me blind buzzard, &c.

Having now liberty of the press, and hearing the old man was very cholerick, I thought fit to raise it up--and only wrote--I referred my discourse then in hand to the discussion and judgment of sober persons, but not unto Thomas Wiseacre, for _Senes bis pueri_: These very words begot the writing of forty-two sheets against myself and astrology. The next year I quibbled again in three or four lines against him, then he printed twenty-two sheets against me. I was persuaded by Dr. Gauden, late Bishop of Exeter, to let him alone; but in my next year's _Anglicus_, in August observations, I wrote, _Hac in tumba jacet Presbyter & Nebulo_, in which very month he died.

Several divines applied themselves unto me, desiring me to forbear any further vexing of Mr. Gatacre; but all of them did as much condemn him of indiscretion, that in so sober a piece of work as that was, viz. in an _Annotation_ upon a sacred text of scripture to particularize me and in that dirty language: they pitied him, that he had not better considered with himself ere he published it.

Dean Owen of Christ's-Church in Oxford, also in his sermons had sharp invectives against me and astrology; I cried quittance with him, by urging Abbot Panormitan's judgment of astrology contrary to Owen's, and concluded, 'An Abbot was an ace above a Dean.'

One Mr. Nye of the a.s.sembly of divines, a Jesuitical Presbyterian, bleated forth his judgment publickly against me and astrology: to be quit with him, I urged Causinus the Jesuit's approbation of astrology, and concluded, _Sic canibus catulos, &c_.

In some time after the Dutch Amba.s.sador being offended with some things in _Anglicus_, presented a memorial to the Council of State, that _Merlinus Anglicus_ might be considered, and the abuses against their nation examined; but his paper was not accepted of, or I any way molested.

In Oliver's Protectors.h.i.+p, I wrote freely and satyrical enough: he was now become Independant, and all the soldiery my friends; for when he was in Scotland, the day of one of their fights, a soldier stood with _Anglicus_ in his hand; and as the several troops pa.s.sed by him, 'Lo, hear what Lilly saith; you are in this month promised victory, fight it out, brave boys;' and then read that month's prediction.

I had long before predicted the downfall of Presbytery, as you (most honoured Sir) in the figure thereof, in my _Introduction_, may observe; and it was upon this occasion. Sir Thomas Middleton of Chark Castle, enemy to Presbytery, seeing they much prevailed, being a member of the House, seriously demanded my judgment, if Presbytery should prevail, or not, in England? The figure printed in my _Introduction_, will best give you an account, long before it happened, of the sinking and failing of Presbytery; so will the second page of my _Hieroglyphicks_. Those men, to be serious, would preach well; but they were more lordly than Bishops, and usually, in their parishes, more tyrannical than the Great Turk.

OF THE YEAR 1660; THE ACTIONS WHEREOF, AS THEY WERE REMARKABLE IN ENGLAND, SO WERE THEY NO LESS MEMORABLE AS TO MY PARTICULAR FORTUNE AND PERSON.

Upon the Lord General Monk's returning from Scotland with his army into England, suddenly after his coming to London, Richard Cromwell, the then Protector's, authority was laid aside, and the old Parliament restored; the Council of State sat as formerly. The first act they put the General upon was, to take down the city gates and portcullisses, an act which, the General said, was fitter for a Janizary to do than for a General; yet he effected the commands received, and then lodged in the city with his army. The citizens took this pulling down of their gates so heinously, that one night the ruder sort of them procured all the rumps of beef, and other baggage, and publickly burnt them in the streets, in derision of the then Parliament, calling them that now sat, The Rump.

This hurly-burly was managed as well by the General's soldiers as the citizens. The King's health was publickly drank all over the city, to the confusion of the Parliament. The matter continued until midnight, or longer. The Council of State, sitting at White-Hall, had hereof no knowledge, until Sir Martin Noell, a discreet citizen, came about nine at night, and then first informed them thereof. The Council could not believe it, until they had sent some ministers of their own, who affirmed the verity thereof. They were at a stand, and could not resolve what to do; at last Nevil Smith came, being one of them, and publickly protested there was but one way to regain their authority, and to be revenged of this affront, and to overthrow the Lord General Monk, whom they now perceived intended otherways than he had pretended; his council was, to take away Monk's commission, and to give a present commission to Major-General Lambert to be their General; which counsel of his, if they would take and put it speedily in execution, would put an end unto all the present mischiefs. The Council in general did all very well approve Nevil Smith's judgment; but presently up starts Sir Arthur Hazellrigg, and makes a sharp invective against Lambert, and concluded, he would rather perish under the King of Scot's power, than that Lambert should ever any more have command under the Parliament.

The Lord General suddenly after brings in the long excluded Members to sit in Parliament, being persons of great judgment, and formerly enforced from sitting therein by the soldiery, and connivance of those who stiled themselves the G.o.dly part of the Parliament. These honourable patriots presently voted his Majesty's coming into England, and so he did in May 1660. But because Charles the Second, now (1667) King of England, Son of Charles the First, grandchild to James the First, King of Great Britany, was so miraculously restored, and so many hundreds of years since prophesied of by Ambrose Merlin, it will not be impertinent to mention the prophecies themselves, the rather because we have seen their verification.

AMBROSE MERLIN'S PROPHECY WROTE ABOUT 990 YEARS SINCE.

He calls King James, The Lion of Righteousness; and saith, when he died, or was dead, there would reign a n.o.ble White King; this was Charles the First. The prophet discovers all his troubles, his flying up and down, his imprisonment, his death; and calls him Aquila. What concerns Charles the Second, is the subject of our discourse: in the Latin copy it is thus:

_Deinde ab Austro veniet c.u.m Sole super ligneos equos, & super spumantem inundationem maris, Pullus Aquilae navigans in Britanniam._

_Et applicans statim tunc altam domum Aquilae sitiens, & cito aliam sitiet._

_Deinde Pullus Aquilae nidificabit in summa rupe totius Britanniae: nec juvenis occidet, nec ad senem vivet._

This, in an old copy, is Englished thus:

'After then, shall come through the south with the sun, on horse of tree, and upon all waves of the sea, the Chicken of the Eagle, sailing into Britain, and arriving anon to the house of the Eagle, he shall shew fellows.h.i.+p to them beasts.

'After, the Chicken of the Eagle shall nestle in the highest rock of all Britain: nay, he shall nought be slain young; nay, he nought come old.'

Another Latin copy renders the last verse thus:

_Deinde pullus Aquilae nidificabit in summo rupium, nec juvenis occidetur, nec ad senium perveniet._ There is after this, _percificato regno omnes occidet_; which is intended of those persons put to death, that sat as Judges upon his father's death.

THE VERIFICATION.

His Majesty being in the Low-Countries when the Lord General had restored the secluded Members, the Parliament sent part of the Royal Navy to bring him for England, which they did in May 1660. Holland is East from England, so he came with the sun; but he landed at Dover, a port in the south part of England. Wooden-horses, are the English s.h.i.+ps.

_Tunc nidificabit in summo rupium._

The Lord General, and most of the gentry in England, met him in Kent, and brought him unto London, then to White-hall.

Here, by the highest Rooch, (some write Rock,) is intended London, being the metropolis of all England.

Since which time, unto this very day I write this story, he hath reigned in England, and long may he do hereafter. 10th December, 1667.