iet, sensible dignity. He encouraged men of
genius and learning, and loved to have them about him. MILTON was one of
his great friends. He was good humoured too, with the nobility, whose
dresses and manners were very different from his; and to show them what
good information he had, he would sometimes jokingly tell them when they
were his guests, where they had last drunk the health of the 'King over
the water,' and would recommend them to be more private (if they could)
another time. But he had lived in busy times, had borne the weight of
heavy State affairs, and had often gone in fear of his life. He was ill
of the gout and ague; and when the death of his beloved child came upon
him in addition, he sank, never to raise his head again. He told his
physicians on the twenty-fourth of August that the Lord had assured him
that he was not to die in that illness, and that he would certainly get
better. This was only his sick fancy, for on the third of September,
which was the anniversary of the great battle of Worcester, and the day
of the year which he called his fortunate day, he died, in the sixtieth
year of his age. He had been delirious, and had lain insensible some
hours, but he had been overheard to murmur a very good prayer the day
before. The whole country lamented his death. If you want to know the
real worth of Oliver Cromwell, and his real services to his country, you
can hardly do better than compare England under him, with England under
CHARLES THE SECOND.

He had appointed his son Richard to succeed him, and after there had
been, at Somerset House in the Strand, a lying in state more splendid
than sensible--as all such vanities after death are, I think--Richard
became Lord Protector. He was an amiable country gentleman, but had none
of his father's great genius, and was quite unfit for such a post in such
a storm of parties. Richard's Protectorate, which only lasted a year and
a half, is a history of quarrels between the officers of the army and the
Parliament, and between the officers among themselves; and of a growing
discontent among the people, who had far too many long sermons and far
too few amusements, and wanted a change. At last, General Monk got the
army well into his own hands, and then in pursuance of a secret plan he
seems to have entertained from the time of Oliver's death, declared for
the King's cause. He did not do this openly; but, in his place in the
House of Commons, as one of