"Heaven, that hath placed this Island to give law
To balance Europe and its states to awe,
In this conjunction doth on Britain smile,—
The greatest Leader and the greatest Isle ....
"Had you some ages past this race of glory
Run, with amazement we should read your story;
But living virtue, all achievements past,
Meets envy still to grapple with at last."1
1: Waller's Poems: date of this from Thomason's Catalogue.
Waller's verses, if nothing else, would suggest that we ought to know something more, at this point, of the state of Scotland, Ireland, and even the Colonies, under Cromwell's Protectorate.