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Stanley, the widow of a London merchant. They lived on bad terms, and eventually separated. Soon after this he formed an illicit connection with one Anne Ottee, who acquired great influence over him, and whom he constituted his sole executrix. He is said to have had a taste for mathematics, and Sir Christopher Wren was his friend. He was improvident in money concerns, and lived and died a Presbyterian. As he had injured no one during the dynasty of his father-inlaw, he was left unmolested at the Restoration. However, some years afterward, he was accused of being a leader of one of the absurd plots of the period, and sent to the Tower. The accusation was ridiculous, and he was shortly afterward discharged. He died on the 26th of June, 1688.

But we must return to a more delightful character. Mrs. Claypole was invariably the friend of the oppressed, and especially exercised her gentle influence over the Protector, in favour of the suffering royalists. When the famous "Oceana," then in the press, was seized, on the supposition that it contained arguments against Cromwell's government, it was to Mrs. Claypole, though altogether unknown to him, that its author, Sir James Harrington, flew for assistance and advice. While he was waiting to see her, her only daughter, Martha, then a child, came into the room. The political visionary had drawn the little lady into conversation, and was endeavouring good-naturedly

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Elizabeth Cromwell.

Photo-etching after the painting by Kreller.

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