Life of Edward Earl of Clarendon, vol 2 | Page 7

parties
and persons must have appeared to chase one another in a bewildering
dance, like antic figures reflected on a screen.
[Illustration: GEORGE MONK, DUKE OF ALBEMARLE (_From the
original by Sir Peter Lely, in the National Portrait Gallery_)]
Then it was that there came forward on the scene the man who, under
the guidance of circumstances rather than of any fixed line of policy,
was to be the main instrument of the restoration of the King. General
Monk [Footnote: George Monk was born in 1608, and very early
sought his fortune in war abroad, where he showed conspicuous

bravery. In 1629 he served for a time with the Dutch; but came back to
England when the army was levied in 1639 to act against the Scots. He
was afterwards employed against the Irish rebels, but joined the King at
Oxford, and when fighting in the Royalist ranks was taken prisoner,
and committed by Parliament to the Tower. He was afterwards released
to serve in Ireland, apparently with no settled purpose of deserting the
Royalist cause. He served there long, and in 1650 went with Cromwell
to Scotland, commanding a new regiment, which afterwards became
the Coldstream Guards. From that time he became the close friend of
Cromwell, and at one time commanded the fleet in some successful
actions against Van Tromp. In the later years of the Commonwealth the
Government of Scotland was virtually in his hands. His military powers
were far greater than his discernment or capacity as a statesman. His
wife was the daughter of John Clarges, a farrier in the Savoy, and, to a
reputation that was none of the most savoury, added the manners of a
kitchen-maid and a slut, and the avarice of a usurer. Her brother, who
was an apothecary, became employed through the influence of Monk.
He carried over to Charles the flattering message from Parliament in
May, 1660, and was then knighted. As Sir John Clarges, he had a long
and active Parliamentary career, and did not die till 1695.] was now
supreme in Scotland, where Cromwell had placed him in command.
Parliament looked to him as the only possible counterpoise to Lambert.
Hyde placed no great reliance upon him, and shrewdly judged that he
was one whose actions would be governed by events rather than one
whose foresight and initiative would direct the progress of those events.
He had abundant military experience, was a competent commander,
and not only by family tradition, but by his own early action in the war,
he was judged to be no obstinate enemy to the royal cause. But long
association with Cromwell had committed him, to all appearance,
indissolubly to the opposite cause; and, if he had no political prescience,
he was, nevertheless, eminently cautious, and was not liable to be led
astray by any fervent attachment to special views either in politics or
religion. His wife, who was a coarse and low-born drudge, was guided
by the fervour of her Presbyterian advisers; but her religious zeal had
no influence over the calmer temper of her husband. At a juncture like
the present it required no abnormal sagacity to convince Monk that the
only possible course open to him was that of impenetrable secrecy as to

his designs--even had he been more certain himself as to what these
designs might be. With admirable deliberation--for intellectual dulness,
on rare occasions, can assume the aspect of Machiavellian design --he
laid his plans for a non-committal policy. He made himself safe in
Scotland by inducing the Scottish Parliament to give him a
considerable grant of money, and by leaving behind him a sufficient
portion of his army to maintain a firm hold on the Government there.
With a moderate force of about 5000 men, he slowly advanced towards
London. Parliament had invited him; but they soon saw that Monk was
not likely to be their obedient servant, and would fain have induced
him to return. Monk none the less advanced; but it was with the utmost
deliberation and circumspection, crossing no Rubicon, and breaking no
bridge behind him. No word in favour of a royal restoration passed his
lips. He frowned on all who ventured to suggest such a course. At each
stage in his advance he pronounced, with edifying conviction, his
determination to maintain the authority of Parliament; and if the
announcement bore also the condition that the Parliament should be
free, that was a condition to which none could fairly object, and which
did not seem to lessen the soundness of Monk's Republicanism. If his
sphinx-like attitude proceeded more from inability to discern the line of
least resistance, than from conscious dissimulation, or any deliberate
concealment of a far-seeing policy, it nevertheless was pursued with
much adroitness, and no other course of action could have enabled
Monk