Constitutional History of England, Henry VII to George II. Volume 2 of 3Hallam, Henry
History
Constitutional History of England, Henry VII to George II. Volume 2 of 3
Hallam, Henry
Constitutional history -- Great Britain
year, and a title.[483] It soon appeared however that those prudent
veterans of revolution would not embark under such a pilot, and that
Richard was not worth purchasing on the lowest terms. Even Henry
Cromwell, with whom a separate treaty had been carried on, and who is
said to have determined at one time to proclaim the king at Dublin,
from want of courage, or, as is more probable, of seriousness in what
must have seemed so unnatural an undertaking, submitted quietly to the
vote of parliament that deprived him of the command of Ireland.[484]
_Conspiracy of 1659._--The conspiracy, if indeed so general a concert
for the restoration of ancient laws and liberties ought to have so
equivocal an appellation, became ripe in the summer of 1659. The
royalists were to appear in arms in different quarters; several
principal towns to be seized: but as the moment grew nigh, the courage
of most began to fail. Twenty years of depression and continual
failure mated the spirits of the cavaliers. The shade of Cromwell
seemed to hover over and protect the wreck of his greatness. Sir
George Booth, almost alone, rose in Cheshire; every other scheme,
intended to be executed simultaneously, failing through the increased
prudence of those concerned, or the precautions taken by the
government on secret intelligence of the plots; and Booth, thus
deserted, made less resistance to Lambert than perhaps was in his
power.[485] This discomfiture, of course, damped the expectations of
the king's party. The presbyterians thought themselves ill-used by
their new allies, though their own friends had been almost equally
cautious.[486] Sir Richard Willis, an old cavalier, and in all the
secrets of their conspiracy, was detected in being a spy both of
Cromwell and of the new government; a discovery which struck
consternation into the party, who could hardly trust any one else with
greater security.[487] In a less favourable posture of affairs, these
untoward circumstances might have ruined Charles's hopes; they served,
as it was, to make it evident that he must look to some more
efficacious aid than a people's good wishes for his restoration.
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