A.D. 1659. the command of those forces about London which

Sir An. thony

examined.

were every day expected to revolt from the committee of safety. This was not conducted so secretly but that some uncertain and dark notices of it were carried to the committee; upon which seized and Colonel Cooke was sent by General Fleetwood to seize Sir Anthony, and bring him to be examined. The colonel and general both treated him, as Sir Anthony acknowledged, with great civility. He quickly found, upon discourse with Fleetwood, that they were in a mistake, and their intelligence imperfect; that they apprehended he was to command the forces against them in the west, which he assured them was not true. Then the general

demanded that he would act

nothing to their

prejudice; but this he refused, saying, he was a member of the council of state, and greatly trusted by the parliament, whom he would do his utmost to restore; and that they might allow him a greater laxity of speech, since they must be sensible he had no power to injure them: he knew the committee had a great influence over the army; but they could not, perhaps, take a surer way to lose that influence than by ill-treating him, and others their old friends and fellow commanders: however, if they were apprehensive

of his interest in the west, he would give them A.D. 1659. his word not to depart the city without their leave. This General Fleetwood accepted, and Sir Anthony was released; but, immediately after he was gone, they gave orders for re-seizing him; and, at ten o'clock at night, a party of soldiers broke suddenly into his house, which they searched strictly for him, but were disappointed, he having removed some minutes before into the city. There he continued in secret, until he had engaged a great body of the citizens for the parliament, and had procured the command of the Tower to be delivered to him, and all the army about London, both horse and foot, to be drawn up in Lincoln's Inn Fields, though the field officers had not declared for the parliament.48

Admiral

over to the

These schemes being thus happily concerted Brings and executed; in order to complete the great Lawson work he had designed, he went down to the fleet, parliament. and there entirely fixed Vice-admiral Lawson in

48 In this year was printed a pamphlet with the title of "A Letter from Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, Thomas Scot, J. Berners, and J. Weaver, Esq., delivered to the Lord Fleetwood, owning their late actions in endeavouring to secure the Tower of London, and expostulating his lordship's defection from his engagements unto the parliament."

A.D. 1659. the same interest; an achievement which is thus spoken of by Lord Clarendon: "That which broke the heart of the committee of safety was the revolt of their favourite, Vice-admiral Lawson; a man, at that time, appearing at least as much a republican as any amongst them, as much an independent, as much an enemy to the presbyterians and to the covenant as Sir Harry Vane himself, and a great dependent upon Sir Harry Vane; and one whom they had raised to that command in the fleet, that they might be sure to have the seamen still at their devotion. This man, with his whole squadron, came into the river, and declared for the parliament; which was so unexpected that they would not believe it, but sent Sir Harry Vane, and two others of great intimacy with Lawson, to confer with him, who, when they came to the fleet, found Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, and two others, members of parliament, who had so fully prepossessed him, that he was deaf to all their charms, and told them 'that he would submit to no authority but that of the parliament.'"

The parliament met again at Westminster, December 26th, 1659; and on the same day appointed Sir Anthony, Colonel Alexander Popham,

and others, to be commissioners for the command A.D. 1659. of all their forces. This appointment gave Sir

to dissolve

army.

Anthony an opportunity to exert, in an extraordinary instance, his sagacity and judgment. He Contrives immediately procured a meeting of the commis- Lambert's sioners; and having provided several clerks, these were employed the whole day in writing out orders, which were sent that night to every field officer in Lambert's army, which that general had left in order to go to Wallingford House upon the treaty with Monk's commissioners. In the preamble to the order, notice was taken of the restoration of the parliament, the power they had delegated to the commissioners, and the return of the army about London to their duty: the officers were therefore directed, upon pain of being cashiered, immediately to march with their regiments to such quarters as were assigned them; which were far enough distant from each other, or from the place wherein they lay. Thus Lambert's army vanished in an instant, not one entire regiment disobeying. Orders were likewise despatched that night to other places in England where any troops were quartered, for these immediately to disband; and proper authorities were sent to such persons of estate and ability as re

A.D. 1659. sided near the troops, and could be trusted, to see

A. D. 1659-60.

the orders put in execution. These measures had the effect intended; so great was the consternation which this sudden and unexpected revolution produced.*

On January the 7th, 1659-60, upon a report from the committee of elections in favour of Sir Anthony, he was admitted to his seat in the house of commons; and on the 13th of the same

*This paragraph is taken almost verbatim from a loose

sheet of Lord Shaftesbury's manuscript.49

49 Mr. Locke's account is very similar: "The first thing he did was to get from the parliament a commission to himself and two or three more of the most weighty and popular members of the house to have the power of general of all the forces in England, which they were to execute jointly. This was no sooner done but he got them together, where he had provided abundance of clerks, who were immediately set to work to transcribe a great many copies of the form of a letter, wherein they reciting that it had pleased God to restore the parliament to the exercise of their power, and that the parliament had given them a commission to command the army; they therefore commanded him, (viz. the officer to whom the letter was directed,) immediately with his troop, company, or regiment, as it happened, to march to N. These letters were directed to the chief officers of any part of the army who had their quarters together in any part of England. These letters were despatched away by particular messengers that very night, and coming to the several officers so peremptorily to march immediately, they had not time to assemble and debate among themselves what to do ;