of the greatest man of bis own age, and one of the noblest of any age, has been associated with all the infamy that balongs to a life-long career of unmitigated hypocrisy and insatiable ambition. Truth, however, at length begins to prevail, and Cromwell s own prophetic hope is attaining fulfilment " I know God has been above all ill reports, and will in his own time vindicate me." " In speaking," said Milton, " of a man so great, and who has deserved eo signally of this commonwealth, I shall have done nothing if I merely acquit him of having committed any crime, especially since it concerns, not only the commonwealth, but myself individually, as one so closely conjoined in the sam3 infamy, to show to all nations and ages, as far as I can, the supreme excellence of his character, and his supreme worthiness of all praise." The most eloquent of English historians has defended, in pages read by all the world, both the Puritans and their king ; and another historian, with still deeper love and ad miration, has paid his " tribute to the memory of a hero," in a work which will henceforth enable posterity to know
what kind of man Oliver Cromwell really was.[1]There is no severer test of a man s character than the use he makes of absolute power. Tried by this test Cromwell bears comparison favourably with any of the greatest names in history. Elevated into supremacy, regal save only in name, he still preserved the plain simplicity of his former life. Armed with more than regal power, he limited himself within the strict bounds of necessity. Personally he cared little for the outward shows of royalty, tut ho stinted no pomp or ceremony so far as it seemed to involve the nation s dignity. Too great to be jealous or vin dictive for himself, he was swift and stern in crushing the enemies of public tranquillity. He was truly a terror to evil-doers, a praise to them that did well. He fostered learning, though himself not learned, and allied with some tj whom learning was profanity. " If there was a man in England who excelled in any faculty or science, the Protector would find him out, and reward him according to his merit." The head of a triumphant cause, he was so little of a fanatic that he tolerated all sects, so long as they meddled not to disturb tho state. His large and healthy spirit was bound by no party sympathies, but yearned towards all good men, of whatever name. At an era when toleration was looked upon by many as foolish in politics and criminal in religion, he stood out in glorious prominence as the earnest advocate of the rights of conscience, and pro claimed all man answerable to God alone for their faith. Popery and prelacy he proscribed, on grounds political rather than religious ; to the adherents of both he showed private lenity ; under his rule men no more suffered at tho stake or the pillory. 83 far did his thoughts reach beyond his age, that ho desired, and earnestly attempted, to extend the rights of citizenship to the outcast and perse cuted Jews. Himself the greatest, " the most English of Englishmen " he was determined that England should be the greatest of states. He encouraged trade, planted colonies, made wise peace with whom he would, or waged just and successful war. All Europe trembled at his voice, and the flag of Britain thenceforth waved triumphant over every sea. In fine, considering the comparative position of Britain in the times that preceded and followed him, the circumstances of his life, and the difficulties with which he had to contend, making all allowance for his errors and his failings, he was a man for all ages to admire, for all Britons to honour in proud remembrance. No royal name, at least since Alfred s, is more worthy of our veneration than that of tho " Usurper," Oliver Cromwell.
CROMWELL, or Crumwell, Thomas, earl of Essex. Of the life of Thomas Cromwell before he entered the service of Henry VIII., crowded with stirring incident as we know it was, the accounts that we post-ess are meagre and far from authentic. Even the year of his birth is unknown, but 1490 has been fixed upon as a probable approximate date. His childhood was passed near London perhaps, as Foxe says, close by Putney where his father, according to Foxe, ai;d also according to the stronger evidence of Chappuys, the ambassador from Charles V.,[2] carried on the trade of a blacksmith. Dining his bryhood he lost liis father, and his mother then married a fuller, whence Pole s assertion, " pater ejus panriis verre.idis victum qua?ritabat."[3] It has been conjectured that, as a boy, Cromwell entered the household of Cecily, marchioness of Dorset, and that therefore his family must have possessed some influence ; but the letter referred to by Sir Henry Ellis as the only evidence of connection with the house of Dorset belongs in all probability to the period when he was engaged in the cloth trade.[4]
While still in his teens Cromwell made his way to Italy, where he was to read Machiavelli, and acquire those views of conduct and statesmanship which determined his career. He first passed over to Flanders, and obtained a situation as clerk in the English factory at Antwerp. He then took service, there is good reason to believe, as a soldier in Italy ; but the story narrated by Foxe, that he was one of the duke of Bourbon s followers at the siege of Rome in May 1527, K extremely doubtful. The inaccuracy of Foxe is notorious, and there is evidence in letters of his own that Cromwell was in England in January 1527, and again in 1528. It nevertheless remains possible that during the interval he w r aa at Rome on some diplomatic mission. Some time also he spent in the office of a merchant at Venice, with whom Pole claims to have bad personal acquaintance ; and Foxe asserts that, subsequently to his return to England, he paid another visit to Italy, being engaged by the leading merchants of Boston in Lincoln shire to procure certain privileges from the Toj e. The well-known story of the kindly help which he received while in distress from the Florentine banker Fresco- baldi, and the noble gratitude which he displayed in his prosperity, rests apparently on no more certain authority than a novel of Bandello and the statement of Foxe, though it is an interesting illustration of the fame which he acquired as a man w ho never failed to r< member a kindness.
Buckinghamshire, dated 1512,[5] it appears that Ciomwell was then practising, as we know he afterwards practised, as a scrivener a combination of attorney and money- lender. He also for a time followed his step-father s trade of cloth- merchant. In 1523 he obtained a seat in Parliament ; and he had most likely already entered the service of Cardinal "Wolsey. That he had done so within two or
three years after there is positive evidence to prove.[6] His
- ↑ "The collection of all his speeches, letters, and sermons," says Hume, "would make a great curiosity, and, with a few exceptions, might pass for one of the most nonsensical books in the world." How the Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell, with Elucidations iy Thomas Carlyle, reply to this remarkable verdict, readers must judge for themselves. No such noble service was ever rendered to the memory of a great man by a single hand. For an able biography in which a very opposite view is taken of the character of Cromwell, tha reader is referred to Mr Forster s Statesmen of the British Common- jxaliJi, vols. vi. vii.
- ↑ Quoted by Froude, History, vol. i. p. 585.
- ↑ Apologia JR. Poli ad Carolum V. p. 126.
- ↑ Ellis, Original Letters, 1st series, vol. i. p. 218. It is made tip of directions to Cromwell concerning a bed and certain other articles of furniture.
- ↑ Brewer, Calendar of State Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII. vol. i. p. 446.
- ↑ The signature of Cromwell as witness is affixed to a paper drawn up to prove the transfer of certain letters from Sir W. Gascoyne, the...
