The story of Harecourt; being the history of an independent church

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THE STORY OF HARECOURT.

Preface

HE Story of Harecourt " is the history of an Independent Church, formed in 1648, by the Rev. George Cokayn, B.A. Hitherto very little has been known of him and those associated with him ; and, whatever claim to originality this story may possess, the credit is due more to the facilities now offered for research, than to any special skill on my part. To those gentlemen who have lightened my labour I desire to tender my most sincere thanks ; for without their help it would have been impossible to have gathered so many new facts concerning those of whom I write. To Sir Albert Woods, Garter King at Arms, for

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PREFACE.

the inspection of valuable MSS. under his care, and for other assistance, I am deeply indebted. The Authorities at the State Paper Office aided my research in every way ; and Mrs. Green kindly allowed me to examine a mass of private notes, relating to State Papers during several years not yet calendared. At the Tower Colonel Milman supplied me with several material points relating to Lord Mayor Tichborne, never before now made public. Readers at the British Museum are always ready to acknowledge with profound gratitude the inestimable privileges which they there enjoy ; and I have to express my deep appreciation of the help rendered me in more than one department. To the Rev. S. W. Kershaw, M.A., librarian at Lambeth Palace, I owe a hearty acknowledgment for his courtesy, on the occasion of a visit to examine some valuable MSS. ; and I am also under great obligations to Mr.

PREFACE.

ix

W. H. Overall, F.S.A., librarian at the Guildhall, for the facility afforded me in referring to many curious records under his charge. Nor can I omit mentioning the excellent library under the care of Mr. Charles Richards, at the Bank of England, from which I obtained the loan of several valuable books. Dr. Williams's library, under the care of Mr. Hunter, is too well known to Nonconformists to require any commendation, but the courtesy of the librarian demands ample acknowledgment. It has been a source of much pleasure to me, in the course of my work, to know that the descendants of the great Sir Bulstrode were much interested in my work ; and that in one particular, I have added a new fact to those presented to the world, in the biography published by Mr. R. H. Whitelock.

One of the most important results to which my work led, was the discovery of an old

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PREFACE.

church register, dated 1696, by Mr. James Spicer, the only surviving trustee of those, by whose foresight the congregation was removed from Hare Court to Canonbury. This book throws a fresh light upon the circumstances attending the death of John Bunyan. The good man at whose house he died, Mr. John Strudwick, was a deacon at the Rev. George Cokayn's church : a man of considerable means, and member of one of the City companies.

To the Rev. T. W. Davids, of Colchester, Mr. Thomas Whiteing, Sen., and many private friends, I am indebted for valuable hints ; and to my wife for a large measure of assistance.

JOHN B. MARSH.

London.

Contents

PAGE

Introduction, by Alexander Raleigh, D.D. . . . xix

Chapter I

George Cokayn — Cal'amy's Reference to him — His Birth — Studies at Cambridge — First Appearance in London — His Preface to Dr. Crispe's Sermons — The Free Grace Controversy — Appointment to Pancras, Soper Lane — Stow's Description of the Church — The Monuments —Bequests — Principal Members of the Congregation — Principles they professed — Sir Bulstrode Whitelocke — Sketch of his Life — Story of Cromwell and Henry Ireton — Whitelocke opposes Cromwell — Alderman Robert Tichborne — A famous Prayer Meeting — Colonel Rowland Wilson — His Wealth — Town Residence — Mary Wilson— John Ireton — Samuel Wilson — John Moore — Mode of Public Worship I

Chapter II

Parliamentary Fast Days — Divine Service at Margaret's, Westminster — George Cokayn invited to preach — Scene in the Churchyard — The Congregation — Description of the Preacher — The Sermon — Plea for Toleration — Demands Liberty of Conscience for the Godly — Thanks of

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the House passed to him — Pride's Purge — Preface to the Sermon — Motto of Cokayn's Life : Duty and Christ — His Belief in the Millennium — Invited to preach a Second Time — Declines the Honour — Execution of Charles — Colonel Wilson and Sir B. Whitelocke oppose the Trial — Tichborne sits as Judge, and signs the Death-Warrant — His subsequent Regret . . .21

Chapter III

Death of Lady Whitelocke — Colonel Rowland Wilson dies — The Funeral Ceremony — Singular Record of the Event — Colonel Wilson's Character — Sir Bulstrode's Testimony — Mary Wilson's Diary — Conversation with her dying Husband — His Last Wishes — Mary's Grief at his Death — Her Treatment by her Father-in-law — Her Faith and Resignation — The Funeral Sermon — Preface by Cokayn — Samuel Wilson buys Gloves in Fleet Street — Mary Wilson's Story of her Wooers — Her Mother in Holland — She flies from London — Sir Bulstrode follows her — She accepts him — Cites Scriptural Reasons — Surprise of her Friends — The Marriage — Birth of her Son Samuel . . • -32

Chapter IV

Sir Bulstrode appointed Ambassador to Sweden — He goes to Cople — Visits George Cokayn's Father— Meets with George — Their Conversation — Sir Bulstrode accepts the Mission — Removes his Wife and Family to Samuel Wilson's House — Attends Pancras Church — Service at Wilson's Residence — Farewell Ceremony at Whitehall —

CONTENTS.

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Cokayn preaches — The Ambassador and his "Wife — Their parting Conversation — The Fleet detained in the River — Prayers at Pancras for Mary "Whitelocke — The Birth of another Son — News sent to Sir Bulstrode — The Swedish Ladies learn the English Mode of Kissing — Cromwell assumes the Protectorship — Cokayn's Letters to Sir Bulstrode '52

Chapter V

Sir Bulstrode's Return — Honours conferred upon him — Cokayn brings Sir Bulstrode's Sons from Cople — Mrs. George Cokayn — Their Children — Lord Mayor Tichborne — Cokayn's Sermon on Colonel Underwood — Prophetic Character of the Discourse — Declares a Revolution at Hand — Fulfilment of his Prophecy — Death of Cromwell — Accession of Charles II. — Welcome by the Ministers — Sir John Ireton, Sir Robert Tichborne, and Jacob Willett are apprehended — Speech of Tichborne on his Trial — Sentenced to Imprisonment for Life — Ireton and Willett are released — Sir Bulstrode purchases his Pardon for ,£50,000— Retires to Chilton Lodge . . . .72

Chapter VI

Passing of the Ministers' Bill— Ejectment of Cokayn — Calamy's Statement — Persecution of the Godly — John Bunyan in Prison — Cokayn preaches in the City Churches — Fanatics — Venner's Insurrection — Public Worship restrained — Spies and Informers — Birth of John Nesbitt — Information sworn against Cokayn, October, 1661 — Second Information in December— Mrs. Tichborne — xiv

CONTENTS.

Her Husband's Estate divided amongst Courtiers and Others — His Removal to the Scilly Isles — Anne Tich- "bome sends a Servant to her Husband — Petitions for his Return to England — Sir Robert is brought to Dover Castle — His Wife shares his Imprisonment— The Prisoner is removed to the Tower — Fellow Prisoners — His Death in 1682 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

Chapter VII

John Ireton — Reference in Pepys' — Ireton in the Tower — His Illness — Removed to the Scilly Isles — Release — Reported a dangerous Fanatic in 1664 — Judgments obtained against him by the King — Cokayn's Preaching Stations — The Act of Uniformity — Effect produced — Informers appointed in Large Towns — Third Information against Cokayn in 1662 — Uniformity of Religion secured — Sermons from behind Prison Bars — Emptiness of the City Churches — A Clerical Mistake at St. Paul's — "Wilson undertakes a Voyage — Is apprehended and lodged in Deal Castle — Released and proceeds to New England — In Custody again in 1665 — Petitions, and is set at Liberty . 109

Chapter VIII

George Cokayn goes into Bedfordshire — Preaches in his Son's House — Fourth Information against him, dated Jan., 1664 — The Sermons and the Prayers — Distance of Cardington from Bedford — Cokayn and Bunyan — Outbreak of the Plague — Apprehension of Cokayn — Is bailed by two Friends in March, 1664 — Remains in

CONTENTS,

XV

London during the Plague — The new Clergy forsake their Congregations — Ejected Ministers return — Cokayn preaches to the Nobility — Names of some of his Hearers — Fifth Information against him in August — The Informer — Sum raised in Aid of the Godly . . .122

Chapter IX

Sixth Information against Cokayn in October, 1664 — The Five-Mile Act — Agitation in England — Seventh Information against Cokayn in September, 1666 — The Great Fire of London — Pancras Church burnt — The old Churchyard — John Moore becomes Sheriff of London — Suspension of the Conventicle and Five-Mile Acts — Houses licensed for Divine "Worship — Sir Bulstrode and Cokayn apply for Licences — Three Applications on one Sheet — Scene in Chilton Lodge — Cokayn's House in Redcross Street — The State Spy-Book — Famous Preachers, Neighbours of Cokayn — Their System of Worship — A Gap of Sixteen Years — Persecution and Executions in Scotland — Itinerants and Wanderers 132

Chapter X

The Harecourt Church Register for 1696— Members of the Church — The First Deacons, John Strudwick and Robert Andrews — Particulars respecting Strudwick — Portrait of George Cokayn — When presented — Communion Service— Plate given by Sir B. Whitelocke and Sir R. Tichborne — John Milton in Bunhill Row — Probable Acquaintance with Cokayn — Deaths of Milton and Sir Bulstrode Whitelocke — John Nesbitt in the Marshalsea— Set at Liberty— Goes to Holland— The Presby-

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CONTENTS.

terians and theRomanists struggle for Pre-eminence — Satire on the King sung in a Conventicle — Sir John Moore becomes Lord Mayor — The Court Influence in his Favour — He betrays the City — Charges of Treason against the Earl of Shaftesbury and Samuel Wilson — Sir James Hay acts as a Spy — The Glover in Fleet Street — Both Charges fail — The Informer in Trouble . . . .156

CHAPTER XL

Magistrates hunting Fanatics — Trick played upon them — Accession of James II. — The brutal Jeffreys — Erection of Conventicles — The Stocking Weavers' Hall, Redcross Street — John Bunyan visits John Strudwick — Bunyan sends a Sermon to Press — Is taken ill of Fever — Nursed by Strudwick — Visited by Friends — His dying Sayings — Buried in Strudwick's Vault at Bunhill — Cokayn revises the unfinished Proofs of the Sermon — Writes the Preface — Strudwick's Work as a Deacon — Disappears from the Church Register — Probable Date of Death — His Interment in the same Vault as Bunyan — Accession of William and Mary — Cokayn's Illness — Preaches from a Chair — Choice of Nesbitt as Minister — Death of Cokayn, in his seventy-third Year — Burial in Bunhill Fields 180

Chapter XII

The first "Stated Room" in Hare Court— Erected by John Nesbitt— The Title-deeds— Strudwick and Robert Andrews first Trustees — The Church Register — Names mentioned — Memoranda by Nesbitt — Benjamin Clarke

CONTENTS, xvii cast out — The Change in Fashion — Nesbitt's Assistants — Addison's Satire quoted by Macaulay — Nesbitt's Sermons — Hurrion's Sermon on Nesbitt — Nesbitt's Ministerial Work — Doctrinal Belief — As a Controversialist — Private Life — His long Illness — Selects the Text of his Funeral Sermon — His Wish concerning Death realised — Dies in his sixty-seventh year— Buried in Bunhill — Ancient Latin Inscription on his Tomb — Present Position of the Vault — Subsequent Ministers in Harecourt . . 206

Appendix

Outline of Sermon to House of Commons .... 247 Extracts from Funeral Sermon on Colonel Underwood . 25 1

Elegy on the Death of Cokayn 265

Pedigree of Cokayn facing p. 270

A*

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PORTRAIT OF THE REV. ALEX. RALEIGH, D.D. Frontispiece

PORTRAIT OF THE REV. GEORGE COKAYN, B.A. facing p. 2\

PORTRAIT OF SIR BULSTRODE WHITELOCKE . . „ ' 88

HARECOURT COMMUNION PLATE . . . . l6o

PORTRAIT OF THE REV. JOHN NESBITT . . . ,, 213

Introduction

I AM asked, as I suppose is but natural, to write a few words of introduction to this early history of the Church of which I have now been many years the minister. I do so with much cordiality. Soon after I undertook the pastoral charge of Harecourt in Canonbury, I became aware that the annals of the Church were in some respects of unusual interest, and my ancestry in the ministerial office of great worth, and, in individual instances, of some fame. In consequence, I have often had a vague desire, and sometimes a half-formed purpose, to make fuller search among the roots and beginnings of our religious history. I am

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THE STORY OF HARECOURT.

now thankful that I never found the leisure to do this, since the task has fallen into a^ler hands. I am sure I have not the skill, and that I could not have commanded the patience, which have been displayed so signally by my friend Mr. Marsh in his researches. He has spared no pains ; and he has had the good fortune to discover many things which are of more than local significance. The story he has drawn up, while of course possessing special interest to the Congregation whose origin and early history it records, contains many little pictures of the social and religious life of our fathers which would not be inappropriate in works of greater pretension ; which, in fact, serve in some modest measure to illustrate the history of our country during a very critical and formative time.

Harecourt is the historic title of a Congregation of Independents in Canonbury.

INTRODUCTION.

XXI

The name is derived from a court in the City between Aldersgate Street and Redcross Street : a locality famous in the early history of Nonconformity from the number of Dissenting places of worship which were erected there. An Independent Chapel was erected in Harecourt in 1692 by the Rev. John Nesbitt. The Congregation was at that time mourning the loss of their founder, the Rev. George Cokayn, B.A., Minister of Pancras, Soper Lane, in 1648. He was ejected from his living in 1660, and his Congregation going out with him, formed an Independent Community in Redcross Street. Thence, after the death of George Cokayn, they removed to a building in Hare Court, called the " Stated Room," which was succeeded by a more commodious building in 1772. In this subsequent congregations worshipped until 1857. At that time many external circumstances con-

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THE STORY OF HARECOURT.

curred in diminishing the extent and importance of the Congregation. The houses of City merchants which abounded in that neighbourhood had been supplanted by warehouses and cottage property; all the approaches to the Chapel were closed in by narrow alleys ; and the property became greatly deteriorated. At this time application was made by the surviving trustees, Messrs. Spicer, Mollett, and Dixon, to Vice- Chancellor Sir Page Wood, for authority to dispose of the property in the City, and reinvest the proceeds, in accordance with the trust, in some more eligible neighbourhood. The requisite authority was obtained. Some time elapsed ; and then the trustees entered into negotiations with " The London Congregational Chapel Building Society," for the purchase of a building then in course of erection in St. Paul's Road, Canonbury. In due time the building was made over to

INTRODUCTION.

them on generous and favourable terms by the Committee of that Society. The Church was removed from the narrow alleys of Hare Court to the more picturesque locality of Canonbury in 1857. At the first celebration of the Communion thirty-four members of the Church assembled. In 1870 there were — including communicants at the branch Churches which have sprung from us — 997 members. The sum collected for all objects in connection with the Church in 1859 — 60 was ^2,600. In 1870 it was upwards of ;£ 8,000. There are now four branch Churches in different parts of. London, supported, in part, by the parent Church. We have much work on hand, of various kinds ; and although there can be no future to us at all resembling the earliest days of our history, when men of rank and title, soldiers, and statesmen (and probably, on rare occasions, even the chief personage in the State), came into our assembly as xxiv THE STORY OF HARECOURT.

worshippers and communicants, we are more than content with the future we may have if we are diligent and faithful. It is nobler in a Church to work for the people than to entertain the great. Much work — which only Christian Churches can effectually do, remains to be done, and is most urgently needed. "We rejoice in the activity and usefulness of all around us who serve the same gracious Lord, and who carry his message and gift of life to dying men. We are provoked by them, and we seek to provoke them in turn, to love and good works. Grace be with all them that love our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in sincerity.

May this little history, so artlessly and pleasantly presented by my friend, have kindly acceptance and charitable interpretation by all who read it.

ALEXANDER RALEIGH.

Chapter I

George Cokayn — Calamy's Reference to him — His Birth — Studies at Cambridge — First Appearance in London— His Preface to Dr. Crispe's Sermons — The Free Grace Controversy — Appointment to Pancras, Soper Lane — Stow's Description of the Church — The Monuments — Bequests — Principal Members of the Congregation — Principles they professed — Sir Bulstrode Whitelocke — Sketch of his Life — Story of Cromwell and Henry Ireton — Whitelocke opposes Cromwell — Alderman Robert Tichborne — A famous Prayer Meeting — Colonel Rowland Wilson — His Wealth — Town Residence — Mary Wilson — John Ireton — Samuel Wilson — John Moore — Mode of Public Worship.

HE earliest notice* of George Cokayn mentions that, after his ejectment, many eminent men adhered to him ; and the names of four are given — Alderman Tichborne, Ireton, Wilson, and Sir John Moore. Reference is also made to two sermons which he

Dr. Calamy.

B

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preached, and the preface to a third which he wrote.

Beyond these facts, nothing whatever was known of him. Yet the slight clue thus furnished led to the discovery of those facts which are now announced for the first time. Of the parentage, birth, and college life of George Cokayn, there will never be much known. Subsequent events in his life identify him with a babe who received the christian name of George in the parish church of Cople, Bedfordshire, on the 1 6th January, 1619. This was the son of John and Elizabeth Cokayn. In 1639 one George Cokayn took the degree of B.A. at Cambridge. He was then twenty years of age, and had been educated at Sidney Sussex College. He never made use of his degree,- but the fact that he assisted in compiling a Greek lexicon proves that he was possessed of considerable learning. In 1646 he made his first appearance in

GEORGE COKAYN.

London, in the character of a theologian. The works of Dr. Tobias Crispe, an eminent Calvinist, were published, and Cokayn wrote the preface to one of the volumes. This is the happiest specimen of his composition now in existence. The fundamental principles of his theology were Free Grace for Sinners, and Christ the first gift to the Believer. This latter doctrine is the subject of the preface, and is set forth in eloquent and persuasive terms. Arminius was then living ; and in the theological world the controversy about these doctrines ran high. Dr. Crispe's name furnished a new title for the theologians, who christened the believers in Free Grace " Crispians." Two years after he composed this preface, George Cokayn wrote himself " Minister of Pancras, Soper Lane." The precise date of his appointment is not known. In the journals of the House of Commons for 1643, there is a record of

THE STORY OF HARECOURT.

the appointment of Christopher Goad to the living, and Walker states that he was soon afterwards ejected by Parliament. Cokayn's fame as a theologian was established by his preface to Crispe's sermons. He became chaplain to Sk\ Bulstrode Whitelocke, M.P., and was then appointed to the vacant living of Pancras, where he found only a small congregation.

This was the most famous City church during the Commonwealth and Protectorate. Three members of the congregation became sheriffs of London, and two of them filled the important office of lord mayor. The church stood on the north side of Pancras Lane ; and the chief entrance was from Soper Lane, now Queen Street, Cheapside. Stow says "the church was small, but had divers rich parishioners belonging to it, and many of them liberal benefactors." It was repaired and beautified in 1621, towards the cost of

PANCRAS, SOPER LANE.

which Alderman Sir Thomas Bennet, Dame Anne Soame, and Mr. Thomas Chapman gave liberally. There was a handsome porch ; and the edifice was surmounted with a steeple. The church was erected in the twelfth century, and many important personages were buried within its vaults. Amongst them were several lord mayors of London. John Barnes, mayor in 1370, was the earliest of those whose names have been preserved. John Hadley was mayor in 1379; John Stockton in 1470; and Richard Gardner in 1478. Some of these were contemporaneous with Sir Richard Whittington and Sir William Waller. There were many others whose names cannot be associated now with events of public importance, but who occupied important positions four or five hundred years ago. Fragments of monuments erected to the memory of these men existed in the time of Cokayn ; but they very much resembled

THE STORY OF HARECOURT.

those which may now be seen in the vaults of St. Paul's Cathedral. The faces had lost all their comeliness, and the bodies lacked their full complement of limbs. There was one monument to the memory of Queen Elizabeth, for which the church was celebrated. This was presented by a member of the congregation in 1617. On a tablet was recorded the murder of one Robert Packenton, mercer, in 1536,* "who was killed with a gun as he was going to Mass from his house in Cheap." The murderer escaped. Several years afterwards, a thief condemned for a felony at Banbury, just before his execution confessed the murder. On a monument in the north wall of the choir was this inscription : "Hereunder lieth buried James Huysh, citizen and grocer, London, third son of John H\rvsh, of Beaufort, in the county of Somerset, Esq. ; which James

* S tow's Survey.

MONUMENTS AND BEQUESTS.

had to his first wife Margaret Bourchier, by whom he had issue eleven children ; and to his second wife Mary Moffet, by whom he had issue eighteen children. He died the 20th day of August, An. Dom. 1590." On boards in the porch were recorded the benefactions. Three small tenements in Whitecross Street were bequeathed on conditions that appear very curious now. A sermon was to be preached on the birthday of the benefactor, after which the minister and churchwardens dined together at a cost not exceeding £2. Provision was also made for sweeping the pulpit at St. Paul's Cross once a week, and for hanging two lanterns containing lighted candles in a street near the church. The parish officers were two churchwardens, and the ward officers ; one common councilman, one inquest, one constable, and one scavenger. There was a parsonage house, which was occupied

THE STORY OF HARECOURT.

by Cokayn, in the north-west corner of Paneras Lane, in Queen Street. The church was destroyed in the Fire of London, and never rebuilt, so that the exact site is doubtful now ; but a portion of the churchyard remains, and a few table tombs are still standing. Many civic ceremonials of much interest, from an antiquarian point of view, were celebrated in the church, when the Lord Mayor, attended by the officers and the corporation, took part in religious worship. Under the pastorate of Cokayn, the congregation rapidly increased in numbers and importance. Independency was the fashion of that time. Army officers, members of Parliament, Ministers of State, high civic personages, attended St. Pancras. George Cokayn and the leading members of his congregation always professed Independent principles.

But their profession never changed with

FROM PANCRAS TO REDCROSS STREET. 9 the change time brought in the fashion of religious belief. When Cokayn was ejected from Soper Lane, his congregation went out after him. The worshippers in Redcross Street are identical with those of Pancras. A few distinguished persons can be traced from 1648, until the period of their deaths, in active co-operation with Cokayn. By far the most distinguished member of the Pancras congregation was Sir Bulstrode Whitelocke, one of the Lord Commissioners of the Great Seal. Lord Campbell characterises him " as one of the most interesting as well as amiable characters of the age in which he lived." His " Memorials of English Affairs " have furnished every modern historian with materials. Carlyle quotes him upwards of a hundred times in his life of Cromwell. As a lawyer his reputation* is honoured as a "zealous and enlightened law -reformer."

* Lord Campbell.

IO THE STORY GF HARECOURT.

In Parliament he occupied the forefront before Cromwell took possession of the helm of affairs. Three times he was chosen a Commissioner to treat of peace with Charles L He was consulted by the leading politicians of the age. Archbishop Laud had the direction of his studies at college ; Bishop Juxon was his fellow-student ; Selden and Hyde were his intimate friends ; Widdrington was his fellowcommissioner of the Great Seal ; he fought with Hampden, and Cromwell took counsel with him as to the policy of assuming regal powers. Through all the varying changes of that stirring age he was the acknowledged counsellor of all parties in difficulties of a legal and technical character ; but he never attached himself to any particular party. In the Civil "War he always spoke on behalf of peace ; in the treatment of the King he resolutely opposed his death ; no deed of violence was ever countenanced by him. He was in

SIR BULSTRODE WHITELOCKE.

1 1 religious matters an Independent; favouring liberty of conscience for all dissenters. His principles were severely tested. Once he was summoned before the Council of State, because, as Recorder of Abingdon, he would not prosecute some stiff-necked Nonconformists. Upon another occasion he was directed by Parliament to prepare a charge upon which to try Archbishop Laud, but refused, and being questioned thereupon in the House, replied, "The archbishop did me the favour to take special care of my breeding at St. John's College, Oxford, and it would be disingenuous and ungrateful in me, the pupil, to be personally the instrument of taking the life of a man who has been so instrumental for the bettering of mine/'* Amongst

* A deep religious feeling was implanted in his mind when twenty-five by an extraordinary family occurrence. He was residing at the time near Henley, at Fawley Court. One Whitsuntide he drove his mother thither. She insisted upon walking under the avenue of limes which led to the

THE STGRY OF HARECOURT.

religious men he was held in such high esteem as to be appointed a member of the Assembly of Divines, who sat for the purpose of settling the religion of the country. There are three incidents in his career which are worthy of special note. After the battle of Marston Moor, a meeting of leading politicians was held in Whitehall, at which Sir Bulstrode was consulted as to the means which should be adopted to get rid of the "Incendiary" Cromwell. Sir Bulstrode recommended that he should be let alone. Upon another occasion Cromwell and Henry Ireton went home with Whitelocke to supper, and the two guests entertained their host with stories until midnight. When Cromwell and Ireton left, they were arrested by a street patrol for being out of doors beyond the prescribed

mansion, and reasoned with her son against fear of death. At supper she drank to the whole household a solemn farewell; and next morning was found dead in bed, her hands raised in the attitude of prayer.

SIR BULSTRODE AND CROMWELL.

hour without passes. The most memorable interview between Whitelocke and Cromwell took place one summer's evening in St. James's Park. They met accidentally under the trees by the lake, and Cromwell asked Sir Bulstrode what objection there was to his assumption of regal authority. The reply was unfavourable, and an estrangement took place between them. In consequence of a family connection with Berkshire, Sir Bulstrode took a warm interest in George Cokayn, and their friendship continued until death.

Alderman Tichborne is the first named by Calamy, and his connection with Cokayn , is demonstrated by incontrovertible evidence. He obtained a seat in Parliament during the Civil War through the influence of his City friends, and quickly advanced in favour not only with his brother members, but also with the public. The first office which he filled was that of Lieutenant of the Tower, and he little thought then that he would terminate his career within the walls of that gloomy fortress. There is one incident in his early life which will not be thought uninteresting now. In 1647 there was considerable disaffection amongst the army officers, but they ultimately acknowledged their error, and in December Parliament selected three members of their body to hold a prayer meeting with the penitent men. Those chosen were Tichborne, Henry Ireton, and Oliver Cromwell. Tichborne was a young man of little experience in political matters, and committed one error which he afterwards bitterly repented. But when Cokayn preached his first sermon at Pancras, no sorrow dimmed the prospect of his future life. He was rapidly advancing in favour both in the City and in Parliament, and he was blest with the possession of a