"Here my influence is not like to be much (as it is not to be expected a raw young man should be much considerable among grandees); my work little; my success hitherto little; my hopes, considering the temper of this place, very small; especially coupling it with the temper of my spirit, which, did you know it, alone would, I think, greatly alter your judgment of this case. I am naturally bashful, pusillanimous, easily brow-beaten, solicitous about the fitness or unfitness of speech or silence in most cases, afraid (especially having to do with those who are constant in the '_arcana imperii_') of being accounted uncivil, etc.; and the distemper being natural (most intrinsically) is less curable. You can easily guess how little considerations are like to do in such a case. I did not, I confess, know myself so well as, since my coming up, occasion and reflection have taught me to do. I find now my hopes of doing good will be among people where I shall not be so liable to be overawed. I might have known this sooner and have prevented the trouble I am now in. Though the case of my coming up hither, and continuance, differ much, so as that I can't condemn the former, yet I more incline to do that than justify the latter."[441] The word "_loose_," used by John Howe, must not be strictly interpreted. If licentiousness had prevailed at Whitehall, he certainly would have used stronger language, and would not have remained in the place a single hour after making such a discovery. The reputation for virtue of Cromwell's family and Court has never been impeached. Malignant slanders reflecting on their morals, and circulated by enemies after Cromwell's death, have never received any support from ascertained facts, or received any credence from unprejudiced historians; but luxury, extravagance, practical jokes, and escapades of the kind indicated in the case of Jeremiah White, there undoubtedly were; and it is to these things, probably, that the strongest expression in Howe's letter refers; whilst the rest of his complaints relate to irregularity in worship, and to habits unfriendly to vital religion. At the same time it must be remembered, that the character of Baxter's correspondent was one of saintly holiness; and that, beheld from the level of his eminently spiritual life, many things would appear deplorable, which common persons are wont to pass by without the utterance of any, even the slightest, reprehension. [Sidenote: _The End of Life._] XVII. Before terminating the review of the private and social life of the period, as it existed amongst religious people, we must touch upon those observances of a sacred kind which were connected with the close of human existence.