to Secretary Thurloe the addresses of the Irish army accepting the order of things established by 'The Humble Petition and Advice,' and 'The Instrument of Government'—addresses not obtained without great difficulty from the Independent and Anabaptist officers—and he was also the bearer of letters to General Fleetwood, and to Lord Broghill, then in England and unwell.
'Dr. Petty,' Henry Cromwell wrote to Fleetwood, 'is coming over with the addresses, and to see whether any conclusion can be made with the adventurers, with whom we are daily troubled. I shall only say this for him, that he has in all the late transactions shown himself an honest man.' Dr. Petty, he told Lord Broghill, 'is one to whom your lordship may safely communicate such things as your hearers and indisposition will not permit you to write yourself.'[1]
There is a glimpse of Dr. Petty during his visit to London in a letter from Hartlib to Boyle, from which it appears that his surveying operations had not quenched his interest in scientific subjects. Dr. Petty, Hartlib tells Boyle, 'has been with me two hours. He talked of an educational plan on which he proposed to spend 2,000l., not doubting but that he would be a good gainer in the conclusion of it. The design aims at the founding of a college or colony of twenty able learned men, very good Latinists of several nations, that should teach the Latin tongue (as other vulgar languages are learnt) merely by use and custom. This, with the history of trades, he looks upon as the great pillars of the reformation of the world.'[2]
Most of his time was, however, occupied by his negotiations. He found the committee of adventurers again involved in disputes. It required several months to adjust the points at issue, but so favourable was the impression he created, that notwithstanding anonymous attacks which pursued him from Ireland, instigated by the officers who were dissatisfied at not obtaining full measure, he was made a
