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coachman, and that they were both brought in so hurt that their lives were in danger. Of that imprudent, if not disgraceful, attempt, misbeseeming his person, I endeavoured to prevent as much dishonour as I might by a little poem, as I thought it my duty, in regard he executed the supreme office at that time."

This little poem was the Vaticinium Casuale, or a Rapture for the late Miraculous Deliverance of his Highness the Lord Protector from a desperate danger.' The poet, who felt the ludicrous situation of his hero, attempted to elevate the dignity of the modern coachman by a comparison with the charioteer of the Olympic games. But his Rapture contained something more valuable than flattery. He did not hesitate to remind Cromwell of the nature of his office, and of the penalty which would hereafter be exacted for every act of injustice.

"After this," continues Wither, "he (Cromwell) called on me again, as if his mind had not been wholly changed, and referred the said Papers to his Privy Council, who referred them to a Sub-Committee, of which Sir Gilbert Pickering being one, gave it a high approbation, and was pleased to say he did not flatter me; but from that time forward I heard no more of it. Another service I did, which much tended to his and the public safety, whereto Sir Gilbert Pickering is privy likewise; and in consideration of the fore-mentioned services, the said Protector, having without my asking that, or any thing else. (but to be relieved according to justice from my oppressions which I could not obtain) gave me the Statute Office, and afterwards made it of little worth unto me, because, as I conceive, I exprest my thankfulness for it by declaring unto him those truths which he was not willing to hear of."

Sir Gilbert Pickering was one of the Protector's council, but he is remembered with more interest as the kinsman and early patron of Dryden. During Wither's frequent visits to the closet at Whitehall, and the table of Cromwell, it is not improbable that he may have met the illustrious Milton, who had been made Latin Secretary in the spring of 1649, and his connexion with Sir Gilbert Pickering was likely to introduce him into the society of Dryden. No mention of either, however, occurs in any of his works.

The poem called the Protector, published in 1655, in which Wither illustrated the dignity of the office, and, as he thought, " rationally" proved it the most honourable of all titles, contributed to awaken the gratitude of Cromwell. Of this poem, we discover from a MS. note, a second impression enlarged appeared in 1656, probably containing a tribute of thanks to Oliver for the appoint. ment to the Statute Office. Of the nature of this situation I am not able to give any account; it was, I conclude, synonymous with the Record Office bestowed upon Prynne after the Restoration.

The titular distinction of the New Governor is known to have been the subject of frequent discussion; and Wither, on the 7th of October, 1657, attempted to clear up the difficulty by a Suddain Flash, showing why the style of Protector should be continued. Our poet was not the only offerer of this grateful incense. Waller had already hailed the elevation of the "Lord Protector" with what has been pronounced by Johnson, with little justice, his famous panegyric. Of the author of the Ramer, it is the writer's wish to speak with the respect due to his lofty intellect, his Christian philosophy, and his dignified morality; but from some of his poetical

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decisions he may be pardoned for appealing. Waller has long enjoyed a prominent place among the British poets, to the exclusion of more deserving candidates. Prior had said, that Denham and Waller improved our versification, and Dryden perfected it; and subsequent critics have admitted the assertion without hesitation. Yet Wither showed a mastery over the language long before Denham or Waller had printed a line; and even from his most negligent works might be extracted lines equal, if not superior, to any thing in Waller's panegyric.

If we may credit Wood, the favour of Cromwell was not limited to the gift of the Statute Office. The illnatured antiquary says, that he made the poet MajorGeneral of all the horse and foot in the county of Surrey, in which employment "he licked his fingers sufficiently, gaining thereby a great odium from the generous loyalists." The institution of Major-Generals, and the division of England and Wales into districts immediately under their military jurisdiction, was a scheme worthy of the usurper. From the decrees of these martial judges there was no appeal. They sent whom they pleased to prison, says one of their founder's warmest admirers, and confined them where they pleased*. Among the victims of this oppressive regulation, was the celebrated Jeremy Taylor, who suffered a confinement of some months in Chepstow Castle. But Wood's statement respecting Wither is unfounded. If the poet "licked his fingers," it was not in the capacity of a Major-General. Colonel Kelsey was appointed MajorGeneral of Kent and Surrey, and Colonel Goffe filled the same situation in Hampshire.

On the 3rd of September, 1658, Cromwell died, and

• Godwin's History of the Commonwealth, vol. iv., p. 242.

Wither composed a Private Meditation upon the occasion. Of this political Proteus many pictures have been drawn. He was the fortunate madman of Mazarine, the brave wicked man of Clarendon, the exhausted villain of Bishop Burnet; yet we ought to remember that Baxter, a shrewd and careful observer, thought he "meant honestly in the main, and was pious and conscionable" till prosperity and success corrupted him*. No man has been the subject of more flattery or abuse; with one party the throned king of the apostacy, with the other, the creature of infamy and pollution. He is said by his admirers to have esteemed men of learning, and to have expressed an inclination to hire the pen of Meric Casaubon to write his history, and to patronize Hobbes for the Leviathan. But the invitation to Casaubon could only prove that he was desirous of perpetuating his exploits in the most graceful manner. He wished to sit for his picture and direct the artist. His intellect was bold and vigorous, full of nerve and power, and peculiarly adapted to wrestle with the stormy influences of the age he lived in. Fickle and uncertain in his friendships and promises, be fostered hopes one hour, only to crush them in the next. Of his variableness an example has been already afforded in the case of our poet.

"On the demise of Cromwell," says Mr. T. Campbell, "Wither hailed the accession of Richard with joyful gratulation. He never but once in his life foreboded good, and in that prophecy he was mistaken." It is easier for a critic to be witty than correct. If Mr. Campbell had ever taken the trouble to look into Wither's political works, he would have seen the fallacy of the observation.

• Reliquiz Basteriane, pt. i., p. 98.

On the expulsion of the Parliament by General Lambert, in the October of 1659, he lost no time in preparing A Cordial Confection against the Fainting of the Heart in those distracted times, which he printed on the 23rd of December, addressed to Mr. Robert Hamon, merchant. In the copy of this pamphlet in the British Museum, is the following observation written on a blank leaf, and dated January 6, 1660:-"This Libell was scattered about the streets that night those bloody villains intended their massacre in London, which was upon Sunday night, the 6th of January, 1660, being Twelfth Night." In this pamphlet Wither asserts, that during nine years' solicitation he had been unsuccessful in procuring the reading of one petition in Parliament; but I find, from the Journals of the House of Commons, that the "petitions of Colonel Cooke and George Withers" were ordered to be read on Monday morning, February the 21st, 1656. Whether they were actually read on that day does not appear.

During the unsettled events of 1659-60, he was enjoy. ing a little repose in the retirement of Hambledon, from which place he dates his Furor Poeticus, on the 19th of February in that year*. There are two villages of this name, one in the county of Southampton, and the other near Godalming, in Surrey; the former must have been the poet's residence, for we learn from the Epistle at Random, that his family had been settled in Hampshire two years. The intentions of General Monk were then the subject of general anxiety. Pepys says in his Diary, "All the world is at a loss to think what Monk will do; the City saying he will be for them, and the Parliament

• In the Advertisement, at the end, he announces that any of his recent works may be had "of Mrs. Stamps, who selleth books in Westminster Hall."

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