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9. III of Hearts.
"Cromwell pypeth unto Fairfax."
Cromwell is here represented playing the pipe and tabor to Fairfax, who is performing a Morris dance. This dance was brought to England in the reign of Edward III., it is said by John of Gaunt. It was originally a military dance, in which bells were jingled, and swords clashed. The word Morris is a corruption of Moorish. In ancient times it used to be danced by five men and a boy, but in the reign of Elizabeth, we have an instance of Kempe, one of Shakespeare's colleagues at the Globe Theatre, having danced alone all the way from London to Norwich.—(Kemp's nine daies wonder, reprinted in Goldsmid's Collectanea Adamantæa, No. 29). Thomas, Lord Fairfax, warmly espoused the cause of the Parliament when the rupture with the King took place. He was, however, opposed to the execution of the King, and became a warm advocate of the Restoration. He died in 1671.
10. III of Clubs.
"Bulstrod and Whitlock present to Oliver the instrument of Government."
On the 26th of June, 1657, the ceremony of conferring the protectorate on Cromwell took place. "After a short speech, ... Withrington, the Speaker, with the Earl of Warwick and Whitlock. vested him with a rich purple velvet robe lined with ermines; ... then the Speaker presented him with a fair Bible of the largest edition, richly bound; then he, in the name of all the people, girded a sword about him; and lastly, presented him with a sceptre of gold, which he put in his hand, and made him a large discourse of those emblems of government and authority. Upon the close of which, there being little wanting to a perfect formal Coronation but a crown and an Archbishop, he took his oath, administered to him by the Speaker."—(Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, Vol. III., page 343.) Bulstrode and Whitlock spoken of as two men on the Card, are one and the same. "Bulstrode Whitlocke, ... before the troubles was an intimate friend to Sir Richard Lane, who, going to Oxford, entrusted him with his chambers in the Temple; of which, with all the goods and an excellent library, he hath kept possession ever since; and would not own that ever he knew such a man, when Sir Richard's son was brought to wait upon him in his greatness.... Under Dick he was made Commissioner of the Seal; and, he being discarded, wheeled about and worshipped the Rump.... He hath a good fleece, and heir to Lilly the Astrologer."—(Mystery of the Good Old Cause).
11. III of Spades.
"H. Martin defends Ralph, who design'd to kill the King."
"Henry Martin, colonel of a regiment of horse and a regiment of whores. He had given him £3000 at one time, to put him upon the Holy Sisters, and take off from the Levellers. He had the reputation of a precious saint from his youth, in reference to all kinds of debauchery, uncleanness, and fraud, having sold his estate three times over."—(Mystery of the Good Old Cause).
12. III of Diamonds.
"Simonias sland'ring ye High Priest to get his place."
One of the riddles I have spoken of in the Introduction, unless it refers to Cromwell having urged the trial of the King.
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