CANTO II.]
HUDIBRAS.
337
And still the maddest, and most crackt,
Were found the busiest to transact; 260
For tho' most hands dispatch apace,
And make light work, the proverb says,
Yet many diff'rent intellects
Are found t' have contrary effects;
And many heads t' obstruct intrigues, 265
As slowest insects have most legs.
Some were for setting up a king,
But all the rest for no such thing,
Unless King Jesus:[1] others tamper'd
For Fleetwood, Desborough, and Lambert;[2] 270
Some for the Rump, and some more crafty,
For Agitators, and the Safety;[3]
Some for the Gospel, and massacres
Of spiritual affidavit-makers,[4]
Were found the busiest to transact; 260
For tho' most hands dispatch apace,
And make light work, the proverb says,
Yet many diff'rent intellects
Are found t' have contrary effects;
And many heads t' obstruct intrigues, 265
As slowest insects have most legs.
Some were for setting up a king,
But all the rest for no such thing,
Unless King Jesus:[1] others tamper'd
For Fleetwood, Desborough, and Lambert;[2] 270
Some for the Rump, and some more crafty,
For Agitators, and the Safety;[3]
Some for the Gospel, and massacres
Of spiritual affidavit-makers,[4]
- ↑ "The Fifth Monarchy Men," as Bishop Burnet says, "seemed daily to expect the appearance of Christ." Carew, one of the king's judges, would not plead to his indictment when brought to trial, till he had entered a salvo for the jurisdiction of Jesus Christ: "saving to our Lord Jesus Christ his right to the government of these kingdoms."
- ↑ Fleetwood was son-in-law to Cromwell, having married Ireton's widow. He was made lord deputy of Ireland, and lieutenant-general of the army. Desborough married one of Cromwell's sisters, and became a colonel, and general at sea. Lambert was the person who, according to Ludlow, was always kept in expectation by Cromwell of succeeding him, and was indeed the best qualified for it.
- ↑ In May, 1659, the Council of Officers, with Fleetwood as their president, resolved upon restoring the Long Parliament, which having, by deaths, exclusions, and expulsions, been reduced to a small remnant, was called the Rump. In 1647, when the Parliament began to talk of disbanding the army, a military council was set up, consisting of the chief officers and deputies from the inferior officers and common soldiers, to consult on the interests of the army. These were called Adjutators, and the chief management of affairs seemed to be for some time in their hands. The Committee of Safety, consisting of the officers of the army and some of the members of the Rump Parliament, was formed in 1659, to provide for the safety of the kingdom.
- ↑ Some were for abolishing all laws but what were expressed in the words of the Gospel; for destroying all magistracy and government, and for extirpating those who should endeavour to uphold it; and of these Whitelock alleges that he acted as a member of the Committee of Safety, because so many were for abolishing all order that the nation was like to run into the utmost confusion. The Adjutators wished to destroy all records, and the courts of justice.
