388 at that time with the gentleman, he in great kindnesse advis'd her that her husband should leave England. She told him he could not conveniently, and the act of oblivion being past, she knew not why he should feare, who was resolv'd to doe nothing that might forfeit the grace he ha:d found . But he told her it was detennin'd that, if there were the least pretence in the world; the co llonell should be imprison'd, and never be left loose againe; " ·h ich warning, though under R -ichard Cromwell, as mentioned in p. 344: thi s is highly probab.le, and still more so that thi s person was ~1r. " ' illiam Pierrepont, and that the royalists a imed pecul iarly at his destruction, as wil1 appear from many pas~ages that are to be found in til e third ,-olume of Cla rendon's State Pap<' rs. In one part the good-wi ll of Pierrepont t o Rd. Cromwell and Richard's respect fOr him is spoken of: in another Hyde instruc t$ hi s spies to cc gain Thurloe, \Thom he thinks considerabl e, and he would gain St. John and "Pierrepon t," adding significantly, "they have manifested that they have no invett terate objection to a single person, and the ri ght hei r is the best person." In another place it is said by one of the spies that u St. John, Pierrepont, and Thurloe, con tinue "to cabal and press the genera l (Monk); three such evil beasts do not exist ." But when Pierrepont is reported to be ill., the most t!ager wishes are expressed for his d eath. No doubt but the virtuous ministers of Charles JI . dreaded hi s abilities and integrity as they coveted his property: but :;upported by such connections as he was, they could not venture to attack him without some cl ear and strong information against him. That these harPies were disappointed in their project of extingu ishing thi s eminent p atriot and his family, and p~u·n c ing on thei r posseSsiOns, may then most likely be attributed to the constancy and discretion of Mrs. Hutch inson. But if this conj ecture s hould appear satisfactory to Ollr readers, it cannot but ' give them extraordinary pleas ure to learn that the relicks of Col. Hutchinson's family have found in the representat ive of William Pierrepont, Earl Manvers~ a fri end and patron worthy tlmt pristine faith and hereditary fri endship which has now stood the test of two centuries.-It is not beside the purpose to remark here that although Mrs. Hutchinson, all tluough her hi story, \l ses the utmost modesty, and abstains from all self~commendatioo, yet here, and in many other places, she necesSarily and naturally proves herself to have possess ed the most valuable qualities. Amongst those of women it is , not very common to coun,t that firmn ess of mind and just sense of honour which made her disdain .to serv e her husband and children at the cost of othe rs. To that enlarged system of educ ation under which she was brough t up, and to her reading .of the clasSics., it is but f air to attribu te, in somC dezree, tl1e expansion and elevation of her mind.
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