Sidor som bilder
PDF
ePub

chester. Wither's purchases of church-lands are detailed in Gale's History of Winchester Cathedral:-

The Manor of North Walton, in Hampshire, sold to George Wither and Thomas Allen, July 5, 1648, for 9647. 138. 6d.

The Manor of Bentley and Alverstock, and Borough of Gosport, sold to George Wither and Elizabeth his wife, for 11851. 4s. 5 d., September 25, 1648.

The Manor of Itchinswell and Northampton Farm, sold to Nicholas Love and George Wither, for 1756l. 9s. 1d., September 28, 1648.

The Manor of Hantden, sold to George Wither for 37967. 18s. 11d., March 23, 1650.

Misfortunes still followed him: the "estate was lost again," and the Manor, after he had "enjoyed it awhile," was resold by the Parliament to a member of their own, who pretended to have a mortgage upon it, and the poet was ejected "by a Suit in Law," without any satisfaction for the loss of his purchase-money, and was even compelled to pay the expenses of the suit, with other charges, amounting to several hundred pounds.

His calls for relief, however, were not entirely disregarded. In 1649, a few members of Parliament, "without his seeking," endeavoured to provide him with some occupation in order to satisfy his "just demands," and he acknowledged their kindness in A Thankful Retribution. The office which they sought, unsuccessfully, to procure, seems to have been that of Register in the Court of Chancery. Instead of this, Park thinks he was appointed one of the Commissioners for levying assessments in Surrey, as appears from the Usurpation Acts of 1649-50. A gentleman of the name of Lloyd possessed a certificate, attested by Wither on the 10th of December, 1651, while acting under this Commission, and entitled, "The report of Colonel John Humphreys, and Major George Wither,

[ocr errors]

touching the demands and accounts of M. René Angier, made upon a reference to them by the Committee for the sale of the King's goods." M. Angier had been agent in France both for the King and the Parliament.

In 1649, the poet hailed the victory of General Jones in Dublin over the troops of the Marquis of Ormond, with a Thank-Oblation, which occupies six quarto pages. This ode of gratulation is alluded to in one of the periodicals of the day. "At Westminster they are very lazy, and have done very little more of public concernment; but as it appears, George Withers has been very much busied in composing a Hymn of Praises for their great achievement and victory against Ormond, which he presented most of the members with on Thursday last, in hopes they would have sung it the day after, being the thanksgiving day appointed *."

We have already seen that the orders made for Wither's relief were productive of no benefit to him, and on the 2nd of January, 1650, a Report upon his case was delivered to the House by Colonel Dove, from which it appeared that 39587. 15s. 8d., with interest, were then due. The Report recommended that for the 16817. charged upon the Excise, eight per cent. should be paid every six months; and that for the remainder of the sum of 39581. the Manor of Little Horksley, in Essex, should be settled on Wither and his heirs. This estate, which was valued by the sequestrators at a yearly rent of 2401., formed a part of the inheritance of Sir John Denham, whom the Report calls the poet's "chief plunderer." Colonel Dove's suggestions were only partially adopted. The 16817. were secured, according to the recommendation of the Report, upon the Excise; but • Mercurius Elencticus, Monday, August 27, to September 3, 1649.

M

instead of the entire estate of Little Horksley, only 1507. was settled upon the poet in "full satisfaction and discharge of all demands," and Mr. Garland was ordered "to bring in an Act for that purpose."

Neither Wither's private troubles, nor his labours as a Commissioner, prevented him from occasionally observing the political world. Upon the rumour of an intention suddenly to dissolve the Parliament in September 1652, he immediately issued a Timely Caution, comprehended in seven double trimeters. The only classi cal portion of the pamphlet is the title.

He also employed some of the November nights of the same year in visionary schemes for remodelling the external and internal construction of the House of Commons. In the Perpetual Parliament, published April 24, 1653, he proposed to build a new House of Assembly at Whitehall, of a fair and imposing aspect, and beautified with walks and pleasant gardens. The members were to be arrayed in a senatorial robe or toga, wearing wreaths of gold around their necks, from which was to be suspended a tablet with the British Isles enamelled upon it. Annual Parliaments were to be introduced with a monthly election of Speaker: all undue influence in the return of members was to be punished with exile, and all cases of bribery in public offices, with death. A twelfth part of the representatives of England and Wales was to be chosen monthly, and for those in residence, a

Constant table of a meal a-day

was to be provided at a moderate charge. Every thing connected with the institution was to be pure, noble, and disinterested.

Wither's political dreams must be numbered with

[ocr errors]

the equally beautiful and fantastic visions of Milton and Cowley. Structures like these, raised in the tranquillity of an enthusiastic mind, can only retain their purity and lustre in the serene and unclouded atmosphere of truth and virtue.

With the Perpetual Parliament was printed the Dark Lantern. Finding the season to be one of considerable danger, he availed himself of his Lantern, which enabled him to walk out without being seen, and to afford light wherever he found it desired. About the same time he put into the hands of Cromwell a Declaration tending to the settlement of the Government. Of our poet's political intimacy with the Protector, a curious and interesting account is contained in the Cordial Confection. After alluding to the Declaration, he thus goes on with the narrative :

"This overture being made at a time when his fears and hazards were very great, though that Discourse was very large, he, with much seeming contentment, heard me read it over to the last word; and then protested, according to his usual manner, that it answered to his heart as the shadow of his face in the glass (then hanging before him in the room) answered to his face; and pretended that he would publish that Declaration, and act accordingly, as soon as he, with one in whose discretion he much confided, had considered what alteration it might need (or words to that effect), and then received it of me, promising to return it, with his final resolution, within a week.

[ocr errors]

At the week's end, or thereabout, he or Mr. Thurloe, then Secretary (who seemed also to approve thereof), delivered back unto me my papers, and the Protector's answer, which then was,-'That he himself, together

with the said Secretary and myself, would within a few
days examine it over to see what verbally might require
alteration, or what addition would be necessary; and
that being done, he would then, without fail, make order
for the publication thereof.' But afterwards he aposta-
tized from that resolution, to his own disadvantage, and
the occasion of what hath since befallen to the public
detriment; yet pretended many months together a firm
adherence to what he had seemingly resolved on, keeping
me all that time in attendance; gave me the key of his
closet at the end of the Shield Gallery in Whitehall
(wherein his books and his papers lay) to retire unto
when I came thither; carried me often to his own table;
frequently discoursed with me concerning my proposal,
and appointed many set days wherein to review the said
papers, but failed always in performance; wherewith I,
being a little discontented, told him I thought his mind.
was changed, and giving him back the key of his closet,
purposed never to wait again upon him, in relation to
that business. He then, with very respective words to
me, excusing his delays, assured me that at six of the
clock next morning, he would send for his Secretary and
despatch that which he intended, before he would admit
any other person into his presence. I came before the
appointed hour, but was then also put off until a little
past three in the afternoon; at which time I attended
till past four, and then hearing that he and his Secretary
were gone
forth in a coach to take the air, I purposed
to depart and lose no more time on that occasion; and
as I was leaving the room, one informed me that about
the same hour in which I was appointed to attend him
and his Secretary, their necks were both in hazard to be
broken by the Protector's usurping the office of his

r

« FöregåendeFortsätt »