little, as far as it relates to me; whereas, if my poor opinion may not be rejected by you, I have to offer to that* which I think the most noble end, to wit, The Commemoration of that great Mercy at Dunbar, and the Gratuity to the Army. Which might be better expressed upon the Medal, by engraving, as on the one side the Parliament, which I hear was intended and will do singularly well, so on the other side an Army with this Inscription over the head of it, The Lord of Hosts, which was our Word that day. Wherefore, if I may beg it as a favor from you, I most earnestly beseech you, if I may do it without offence, that it may be so. And if you think not fit to have it as I offer, you may alter it as you see cause; only I do think I may truly say, it will be very thankfully acknowledged by me, if you will spare the having my Effigies in it. The Gentleman's pains and trouble hither have been very great; and I shall make it my second suit unto you that you will please to confer upon him that Employment which Nicholas Briot had before him: indeed the man is ingenious, and worthy of encouragement. I may not presume much; but if, at my request, and for my sake, he may obtain this favor, I shall put it upon the account of my obligations, which are not few; and, I hope, shall be found ready to acknowledge 'it,' and to approve myself, Gentlemen, Your most real servant, OLIVER CROMWELL.† Of Nicholas Briot' and 'Mr. Symonds,' since they have the honor of a passing relation to the Lord General; and still enjoy, or suffer, a kind of ghost-existence in the Dilettante memory, we may subjoin, rather than cancel, the following authentic particulars. In the Commons Journals of 20th August, 1642, it is :‘Ordered, That the Earl of Warwick,' now Admiral of our Fleet, 'be desired that Monsieur Bryatt may have delivery of his wearing apparel; and all his other goods stayed at Scarborough, not belonging to Minting and Coining of Monies.'-This Nicholas Briot, or Bryatt, then, must have been Chief Engraver for the Mint at the beginning of the Civil Wars. We perceive, he has gone to the King northward; but is here stopt at Scarborough, with all his baggage, by Warwick the Lord High Admiral: and What became of him afterwards, or what was is to get away. *I should vote exclusively for that. VOL. I. 24 † Harris, p. 519. Symonds, Symons, or as the moderns call him, Simon, is still known as an improved Medal-maker. In the Commons Journals of 17th December, 1651, we find: 'Ordered, That it be referred to the Council of State to take order that the sum of 3007. be paid unto Thomas Symons, which was agreed by the Committee appointed for that purpose to be paid unto him, for the Two Great Seals made by him, and the materials thereof: And that the said Council do take consideration of what farther recompense is fit to be given unto him for his extraordinary pains therein; and give order for the payment of such sum of money as they shall think fit in respect thereof.' An earlier entry, which still more concerns us here, is an Order, in favor of one whose name has not reached the Clerk, and is now indicated only by stars, that the Council of State shall pay him for making the Statue of the General,'-doubtless this Medal or Effigies of the General; the name indicated by stars being again that of Symonds. The Order, we observe, has the same date as the present Letter.* The Medal of Cromwell, executed on this occasion, still exists, and is said to be a good likeness. The Committee-men had not taken my Lord General's advice about the Parliament, about the Army with the Lord of Hosts, and the total omitting of his own Effigies. Vertue published Engravings of all these Medals of Simon (as he spells him) in the year 1753. The Two Great Seals,' mentioned in the Excerpt above, are also worth a word from us. There had a good few Great Seals to be made in the course of this War; all by Symonds: of whom, with reference thereto, we find, in authentic quarters, various notices, of years long prior and posterior to this. The first of all the new Great Seals' was the one made, after infinite debates and hesitations, in 1643, when Lord Keeper Lyttleton ran away with the original: Symonds was the maker of this, as other entries of the same Rhadamanthine Commons Journals instruct us: On the 11th July, 1643, Henry Marten is to bring 'the man' that will make the new Great Seal, and let us see him 'to-morrow;' which man it turns out, at sight of him, not 'to * Commons Journals, 4 February, 1650-1. † Harris, p. 518. morrow,' but a week after, on the 19th July, is 'Mr. Simonds,** —who, we find farther, is to have 1007. for his work; 407. in hand, 307. so soon as his work is done, and the other 307. one knows not when. Symonds made the Seal duly; but as for his payment, we fear it was not made very duly. Of course when the Commonwealth and Council of State began, a couple of new Great Seals were needed; and these too, as we see above, Symonds made; and is to be paid for them, and for the General's Statue ;-which we hope he was, but are not sure! Other new Seals, Great and Not-so-great, in the subsequent mutations, were needed; and assiduous Symonds made them all. Nevertheless, in 1659, when the Protectorate under Richard was staggering towards ruin, we find Mr. Thomas Symonds Chief Graver of the Mint and Seals,' repeatedly turning up with new Seals, new order for payment, and new indication that the order was but incompletely complied with.† May 14th, 1659, he has made a new and newest Great Seal; he is to be paid for that, and for the former, for which he yet remains unsatisfied.' Also on the 24th May, 1659,‡ the Council of State get a new Seal from him. Then on the 22d August, on the Rump Parliament's reassembling, he makes a 'new Parliament Seal;' and presents a modest Petition to have his money paid him: order is granted very promptly to that end; his debt to be paid for this Seal, and for all former work done by him ;'-we hope, with complete effect.§ The Restoration soon followed, and Symonds continued still in the Mint under Charles II.; when it is not very likely his claims were much better attended to; the brave Hollar, and other brave Artists, having their own difficulties to get life kept-in, during those rare times, Mr. Rigmarole !-Symonds, we see, did get the place of Nicholas Briot; and found it, like other brave men's places, full of hard work and short rations. Enough now of Symonds and the Seals and Effigies. On the same Tuesday, 4th February, 1650-1, while the Lord. General is writing this Letter, his Army, issuing from its Leith * Commons Journals, iii., 162-174. Ibid., vii., 663. † Ibid., vii., 654. § Ibid., vii., 654, 663, 765. Citadel and other winter-quarters, has marched westward towards Stirling; he himself follows on the morrow. His Army on Tuesday got to Linlithgow; the Lord General overtook them at Falkirk on Wednesday. Two such days of wind, hail, snow, and rain as made our soldiers very uncomfortable indeed. On Friday, the morning proving fair, we set out again; got to Kilsyth ; -but the hail-reservoirs also opened on us again; we found it impossible to get along; and so returned, by the road we came ;` back to Edinburgh on Saturday,*-coated with white sleet, but endeavoring not to be discouraged. We hope we much terrified the Scots at Stirling; but the hail-reservoirs proved friendly to them. LETTER CXIII. By this tempestuous sleety expedition my Lord General caught a dangerous illness, which hung about him, reappearing in three successive relapses, till June next; and greatly alarmed the Commonwealth and the Authorities. As this to Bradshaw, and various other Letters still indicate. To the Right Honorable the Lord President of the Council of State: These. Edinburgh, 24th March, 1650. MY LORD, I do with all humble thankfulness acknowledge your high favor, and tender respect of me, expressed in your Letter, and the Express sent therewith to inquire after one so unworthy as myself. Indeed, my Lord, your service needs not me: I am a poor creature ; and have been a dry bone; and am still an unprofitable servant to my Master and you. I thought I should have died of this fit of sickness; but the Lord seemeth to dispose otherwise. But truly, my Lord, I desire not to live, unless I may obtain mercy from the Lord to approve my heart and life to Him in more faithfulness and thankfulness, and 'to' those I serve in more profitableness and diligence. And I pray God, your Lordship, and all in public trust, may improve all those unparalleled experiences of the Lord's wonderful Workings in your sight, with singleness of heart to His glory, and the refreshment of His People; * Perfect Diurnal (in Cromwelliana, p. 100). who are to Him as the apple of His eye; and upon whom your enemies, both former and latter, who have fallen before you, did split themselves. This shall be the unfeigned prayer of, My Lord, Your most humble servant, 6 From Edinburgh, of date 18th March, by special Express we have this comfortable intelligence: The Lord General is now well recovered: he was in his dining-room to-day with his Officers, and was very cheerful and pleasant.' And the symptoms, we see, continue and better on the 24th. 'So that there is not any fear, by the blessing of God, but our General will be enabled to take the field when the Provisions arrive.' 'Dr. Goddard' is attending him. Before the end of the month he is on foot again; sieging Blackness, sieging the Island of Inchgarvie, or giving Colonel Monk directions to that end. THE following Letter brings its own commentary: LETTER CXIV. For my beloved Wife, Elizabeth Cromwell, at the Cockpit: These. MY DEAREST, I praise the Lord I am increased in strength in my outward man: But that will not satisfy me except I get a heart to love and serve my heavenly Father better; and get more of the light of His countenance, which is better than life, and more power over my corruptions in these hopes I wait, and am not without expectation of a gracious return. Pray for me; truly I do daily for thee, and the dear family; and God Almighty bless you all with His spiritual blessings. Mind poor Betty of the Lord's great mercy. Oh, I desire her not only to seek the Lord in her necessity, but in deed and in truth to turn to the Lord; and to keep close to Him; and to take heed of a departing heart, and of being cozened with worldly vanities and worldly company, which I doubt she is too subject to. I earnestly and frequently pray for her, and for him. Truly they are dear to me, very dear; and I am in fear lest Satan should deceive them,-knowing how * Newspapers (in Cromwelliana, p. 101). † Ibid., pp. 100, 1. |