Council, 1605, stating that the draining of the fens in Northampton, Lincoln, Huntingdon, and Cambridge, (a work which his son afterwards resolutely opposed,) was practicable, and might be accomplished "without peril to any haven or county." In recommending this great improvement, he was joined by sixteen of the principal persons in the four counties, most immediately interested; among whom we find the name of Sir Oliver his brother, a patriotic and loyal character, to whose countenance he appears, on various occasions, to have been greatly indebted. An allusion has already been made to the notion, which the Protectoral family is said to have cherished, of being descended by the female branch from the royal house of Stuart. The historian of that family, who left no source of information unexplored, has established on good grounds their right to the honour of which they boasted, although in their days it appears to have been received on the authority of a very obscure tradition. Lord Hailes, in his Annals, too, lends a strong confirmation to the same claim. He remarks, that at the fatal battle of Halidon, two Stuarts fought under the banner of their chief; the one Alan of Dreghorn, the paternal ancestor of Charles the First; and the other, James of Rosyth, the maternal ancestor of Oliver Cromwell.* Noble, who appears not to have been aware of this authority, traces the lineage somewhat higher; namely, to Alexander the Lord High Steward of Scotland, who had * Vol. ii. p. 204. Ann. 1333. three sons, James, John, and Andrew. The first succeeded to the hereditary office held by his father, which he transmitted at his death to his son Walter; who, marrying Margery, the eldest daughter of King Robert Bruce, and heiress of her brother David who died without issue, brought the Scottish crown into his family in the person of his son Robert the Second. The next branch of Alexander's descendants, through his son John, flourished as Earls and Dukes of Lennox, and was ultimately engrafted into the royal stem, by the ill-omened marriage of Lord Darnley with the unfortunate Mary. But it is with the offspring of the third son that our enquiry is most intimately connected, as being the ancestor of Cromwell. Andrew Steward of Dundavale, according to the author of the Memoirs, had a grandson, who was appointed one of the attendants of James the First of Scotland, when this prince was sent into France to avoid the cruel jealousy of his uncle, the Duke of Albany; and being taken prisoner in company with his master by the English cruisers, he shared the captivity which Henry IV. thought proper to inflict upon the royal child. He ultimately consented to fix his residence in the south, and even to accept of knighthood from the hand of his new sovereign. Hence he became the founder of the first family of Stewards which settled in England, and at the same time, the progenitor of Elizabeth the mother of our hero. The genealogical table is as follows :* * See Noble, vol. ii. p. 20k. 2d edit. Walter Ld. H.-Steward-Marjory, sister of Andrew Steward, Esq. Alexander Steward, Esq. Sir John Steward, Knt. Sir John Steward, Knt. Richard Steward, Esq. Elizabeth Steward Robert Cromwell, Esq. Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector. From this ployments in the nation, and to serve in Parin obscurity. I have been called to several emneither living in any considerable height, nor yet Charles the First, were cousins in the eighth or Steward, the mother of Oliver Cromwell, and "I was by birth a gentleman, deduction, it appears that Elizabeth The Protector was therefore entitled to say, ninth degree. liaments ;" and he adds, with what truth will appear in the sequel, "I did endeavour to discharge the duties of an honest man in those services."* This distinguished individual was born at Huntingdon, on the 25th of April, in the year 1599, and baptized four days after, in the parish church of St Johns; his uncle, Sir Oliver, for whom he was named, appearing in the capacity of godfather. If we may trust to the gossip of his more ancient biographers, his childhood did not pass without many remarkable occurrences, which seemed to indicate that an uncommon fortune awaited his riper years. For example, they say that his grandfather, Sir Henry Cromwell, having sent for him when an infant in the nurse's arms, to Hinchinbrooke, a monkey took him from the cradle, and bolting from a window, ran with him upon the leads which covered part of the roof. Alarmed at the danger to which the young visitor was exposed, the family brought beds upon which to receive him, supposing that the creature would drop him from its paws; but, it is added, the sagacious animal, appreciating the value of its treasure, brought the "Fortune of England" down in safety, and replaced him in his bed. On another occasion he made a narrow escape from drowning. He was saved by Mr Johnson, a Speech in Parl. 12th Sept. 1654. + "Oliverus filius Roberti Cromwell, Gent. et Elizabethæ uxoris ejus, natus 250 die Aprilis, et baptizatus 290 ejusdem mensis, 1559. E Registro Ecclesiæ Paroch. Sti Johannis infra oppidum Huntingdon." " clergyman, who, many years afterwards, was recognised by Oliver when he was marching at the head of his soldiers through Huntingdon. He asked the aged and loyal curate whether he did not remember having rescued him from an untimely death? "I do," replied the other, "but I wish I had put you in, rather than see you in arms against your king." If we may believe the author of a work published the year after Cromwell's death, it will appear that the accidents which befell him were not confined to one element. He was, says Henry Dawbenny, on the point of being consumed by fire, and hence bore a great resemblance to Moses, who endured an equal peril from water. Had this foolish writer been acquainted with the occurrence to which the Protector himself alluded at Huntingdon, he would have formed a still closer parallel between the two personages, whom it is the object of his book to compare and to celebrate. The title of his tract is, History and Policy reviewed in the Heroic Transactions of His Most Serene Highness Oliver, late Lord Protector, from his cradle to his tomb, declaring his steps and princely perfections, as they are drawn in lively parallels to the ascents of the great patriarch Moses, in thirty degrees to the height of honour." In this parallel of thirty points between Cromwell and Moses the man of God, he alludes to one · between "Elias and Dr Luther, between Elisha and Calvin, and between Queen Elizabeth and 66 Dr Lort's MSS. communicated to Noble by Mr Audrey. B |