Nor was
she wholly disinterested in this conduct; she found it the best method
of diverting anxiety and suppressing doubt; of resisting that
misanthropy which a long continuance of adversity is apt to engender in
the tenderest hearts; and of preserving those social feelings of general
good-will, which, to austere dispositions, render even prosperity
distasteful.
[1] Many of these circumstances are copied from the death of
Cromwell.
CHAP. XXV.
"See Cromwell damn'd to everlasting fame."
Pope.
It was at this period that Cromwell underwent that memorable struggle
between his ambition and his fears, which ultimately preserved the
monarchy of England in the line of legitimate descent. He tampered with
all parties, and found none hearty in his cause: the best-disposed to
his interests were only passive; but his enemies were implacable. The
popularity of a pamphlet recommending his assassination upon principle,
and declaring that the perpetrator of the deed would deserve the favour
of God and man, destroyed every vestige of his comfort.
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