tended the honour, she had no wish to oppose him. Cromwell, in his prompt way, instantly sent for a clergyman, and, as it was too late for Jerry to recede, they were actually married on the spot. The Protector, however, sweetened the dose by presenting the bride with a dowry of five hundred pounds. Oldmixon, who was acquainted with Mr. and Mrs. White, heard the anecdote related in the presence of them both. The lady, he says, frankly admitted that there was something in it. The familiar name of Jerry, and his ministry at a fanatical court, may perhaps lead the reader to form a contemptible opinion of the hero of this amusing tale. Jerry White, however, was in person extremely handsome, and had nothing of the Puritan in his manners, though he probably affected it in the pulpit. He was also a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and an author. At the Restoration he was left unmolested, and enjoyed to an advanced age the society of the many friends whom his wit and social qualities attracted around him. In a pamphlet, printed in 1703, we find him represented as saying grace at one of those meetings of vulgar infamy and buffoonery, the Calves' Head Club. This may have been a mere libel, although in all probability the principles of Jerry and the club were nearly the same. He died in 1707, at the age of seventy-five.

The Protector had for some time set his heart on marrying his daughter Frances to William

Dutton, Esq., of Sherborne, in Gloucestershire (one of the greatest fortunes in England), whose father had been his friend. This favourite project was, however, defeated by the lady falling in love with Robert Rich, grandson and heir to Robert, Earl of Warwick. The Protector, although the old earl was his most trusted friend, was strongly opposed to their union. It appears by a letter from Lady Falconberg to her brother, Henry Cromwell, dated 23d of June, 1656, that his objection arose from the profligate life which Rich was supposed to have led; although Doctor Gauden, in his funeral sermon on the death of his former pupil, observes that he was ever desirous of instruction both in piety and prudence. Whatever may have been his virtues or his vices, the lady took upon herself to defend her lover's character, and Cromwell at length gave a reluctant consent to their marriage.

They were united (according to Lord Clarendon, with great splendour) on the 11th of November, 1657, the Protector settling 15,000l. on his daughter. We have a ludicrous account of Crom

"Nov. II. This day the most illustrious lady, the Lady Frances Cromwell, the youngest daughter of his Highness the Lord Protector, was married to the most noble gentleman, Mr. Robert Rich, son of the Lord Rich, grandchild of the Earl of Warwick and of the Countess Dowager of Devonshire, in the presence of their Highnesses and of his grandfather and father, and the said countess, with many other persons of high honour and quality.”

well's behaviour at the marriage feast. One of his jocularities on the occasion was to snatch off his son Richard's wig, which he pretended to throw into the fire, though it appears he contented himself with merely sitting on it.

These practical fooleries were on the point of having a fatal termination. One of the guests was Sir Thomas Billingsley, a formal old courtier, who had once been gentleman-usher to the Queen of Bohemia. He was exhibiting, in his cloak and sword, in one of the stately dances of the period, when one of four buffoons, who had been hired to amuse the company, "made the knight's lip black like a beard." The knight, it is said, "drew his knife, missing very little of killing the fellow."

The happiness of the bride was of a short duration, her husband, only three months after their marriage, being attacked by an illness which proved fatal. He had often observed that the period of his life would not exceed that of his mother, who had died at the age of twenty-seven ; he himself died at twenty-three. During his sickness he is said to have received much comfort from religion, his young wife reading the Scriptures to him by his bedside, as well as her tears would permit. Sometimes he requested her to read particular verses once or twice over, and then begged her to pause while he pondered them in his mind. Occasionally he broke forth into expressions of hope and thankfulness, that "God had given us

poor creatures such gracious promises to lay hold on." He died at Whitehall, on the 16th of February, 1658, three months and five days after his marriage.' When his death was told to his grandfather, the Earl of Warwick, "They had better," he said, mournfully, "keep the grave open for a short time, and they might then bury them together." His words proved almost prophetic, for in two months he followed his favourite grandson to the grave.

Mrs. Rich subsequently united herself to her relation, Sir John Russell, Bart., who died many years before her, leaving her with a numerous offspring. From the period of her second marriage, her name is scarcely ever mentioned in the annals of the times. Mrs. Rich survived all her brothers and sisters, dying on the 27th of January, 1721, at the almost patriarchal age of eighty-four.

1" Feb. 16. This day died the most noble gentleman, Mr. Robert Rich, son of the Lord Rich, grandchild of the Earl of Warwick, and husband of the most illustrious lady, the Lady Frances, youngest daughter of his Highness, a young nobleman of great hopes and virtues, answerable to the nobleness of his extraction."

CHAPTER XII.

CHARLES II.

Birth of Charles Remarkable Constellation-Ceremony of His Christening - Anecdotes of His Childhood - Juvenile Letters - His Guardians-Charles Witnesses from an Eminence the Battle of Edgehill - Parts with His Father for the Last Time -Sent into the West of England with the Title of General Retreats before Fairfax- Retires to Scilly-Passes over to Jersey Visits The Hague-Invited to Scotland after the Execution of His Father - Proceeds to Paris- Again Lands at Jersey — Quits That Island for Breda — Arrives in the Frith of Cromarty- Hard Conditions Imposed upon Him by the Scots - His Misery and Privations - Crowned at Scone - Frequently reprimanded for His Levity- Battle of Dunbar - Charles Takes the Command of the Scottish Army -Marches into England - Admirable Conduct of His Soldiers.

A PROFESSED apology, either for the character or conduct of Charles the Second, might almost be considered as an insult to virtue. Morality has passed its sentence on the good-humoured sensualist, and whether that sentence be too severe we will not now pause to inquire. There is a charm, however, in all that concerns the "merry monarch," which has served to rescue from entire reprobation the name of the libertine Charles. Fortu