The next
morning he had recovered his usual composure; and when he received the
visit of his physician,[d] ordering all his attendants to quit the room but
his wife, whom he held by the hand, he said to him: "Do not think that I
shall die; I am sure of the contrary." Observing the surprise which these
words excited, he continued: "Say not that I have lost my reason: I tell
you the truth. I know it from better authority than any which you can have
from Galen or Hippocrates. It is the answer of God himself to our prayers;
not to mine alone, but to those of others who have a more intimate
[Footnote 1: Clar. Hist. iii. 647. Bulstrode, 205. Heath, 408.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1658. August 6.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1658. August 17.]
[Sidenote c: A.D. 1658. August 24.]
[Sidenote d: A.D. 1658. August 25.]
interest in him than I have."[1] The same communication was made to
Thurloe, and to the different members of the protector's family; nor did it
fail to obtain credit among men who believed that "in other instances he
had been favoured with similar assurances, and that they had never deceived
him."[2] Hence his chaplain Goodwin exclaimed, "O Lord, we pray not for his
recovery; that thou hast granted already; what we now beg is his _speedy_
recovery.
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