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the distractions of the Kingdom; when he assured his friends, he would surrender the heavy load of greatness with a joy equal to the sorrow with which he bore the dignity thus thrust upon him by necessity. With such discourse as this, Cromwell entertained his republican friends who waited on him, and who, fancying that they perceived a strong resemblance in every thing but the name, between a Protector and a King, were disposed to look upon Cromwell with a jealous eye; and to entertain suspicion, that their willy coleague had employed them merely as ladders in his ascent. These suspicions Cromwell endeavoured to ally by the language we have given, and by affecting a vast deal of affability and condescension. Shutting the door, he would kindly insist on these doughty but out-witted champions of republicanism sitting down covered beside him, to show how little he valued the ceremonies of etiquette, and how humbly he bore the honours of his office. The whole farce generally concluded with a long unintelligible prayer.
There was no feature more remarkable in the political practice of the Protector, than the variety, extent, and certainty of his intelligence on all circumstances and occurrences connected with his own personal interests or those of the state. To procure this intelligence he spared no cost: and the consequence was, that he possessed an extent and minuteness of information on the events of the day, that frequently both astonished his friends and confounded his enemies of this. Of this the following instances are no bad specimens;-
One day whilst Cromwell and the Earl of Orrery were walking together, in one of the galleries of Whitehall, a man, almost in rags, suddenly presented himself before them. Cromwell, on perceiving him, immediately dismissed the astonished Earl,
