OLIVER CROMWELL WHAT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA OWES HIS MEMORY BY ANNETTE K. LOVEDAY HOWARD (MRS. HAMILTON GAY HOWARD) OLIVER CROMWELL OLIVEK CROMWELL WARRIOR, STATESMAN, AND RULER WHAT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA OWES HIS MEMORY BY ANNETTE K. LOVEDAY HOWARD (MRS. HAMILTON GAY HOWARD) A Lineal Descendant Copyright 1919 By Annette R. Loveday Howard CU531726 „„» ORIGINAL AND AUTHENTIC DEATH-MASK OF OLIVER CROMWELL, IN POSSESSION OF THE AUTHOR. IN SAN DIEGO. CALIFORNIA. DU- PLICATE IN BRITISH MUSEUM. LONDON. ENGLAND. SEE PAGE 34. FOREWORD While on a visit at the little Cathedral town of Lincoln, England, with my husband a few years ago, we encountered one of its proverbial "wet- summers" for the first time; born in England 1 had, many occasions previously, visited there after my father had brought his family to this country. I had, therefore, abundance of indoor leisure to peruse some of the rare literary works in my cousin's library, and because of my lineal descent, naturally became interested again in the Life and Works of Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, "the strongest and terriblest of all Englishmen", as Car- lyle writes, making full notes from the authentic volumes in it, and which largely compose this little tribute to the memory of that great man who paved the way, some three hundred years ago, for the creation of this, my glorious adopted country, 'The United States of America", by establishing "The COMMONWEALTH of England, Scot- land and Ireland", as a noble precedent. CROMWELL and WASHINGTON ! ALL HAIL! "Achasta" A. L. H. Inspiration Heights San Diego, California, U. S. A. LORD PROTECTOR OLIVER CROMWELL (FROM THE NATIONAL PORTRAITS GALLERY. LONDON. ENGLAND. SEE PAGE 34) Oldest Link oetween Britain and America— LIVER CROMWELL, '"LORD -PROTECTOR OF THE COM- MONWEALTH OF ENGLAND, SCOT LAND AND IRELAND", was born at Huntingdon, England, on the twenty-fifth day of April, 1599, and was the son of Honorable Robert Cromwell, Member of Parliament for Huntingdon in 1593, and of Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of Sir Richard Stuart. ' He was named after his uncle and godfather, Sir Oliver Cromwell. His father, Robert Cromwell, second son of Sir Henry Cromwell of Hichinbroke, was a gentleman of good family and moderate estate, who lived a rural life and cultivated his own lands. Robert's sister, Elizabeth Cromwell, was the mother of John Hampden — one of the founders of the colony of Connecticut — who was the head of a Bucking- hamshire family of great wealth and consideration that could trace back their geneology to a period before the Roman Conquest. John Hampden, known as the "Firebrand of the English Revolution/' and Oliver Cromwell were therefore first cousins. Of Oliver's early life not much is known with any degree of certainty. He appears to have lived at home, and to have received his education at a Presbyterian school in the district, after which he attended "Sydney College" at Cambridge University, and pursued his studies there from April 23d, 1616, to June 23d, 1617, his father dying, and he then returned to Huntingdon. At the age of twenty-one, August 2 2d, 1620, he married Elizabeth Bouchier, daughter of Sir James Bouchier, who brought him a certain amount of dower. Whether from the influence of the rather ascetic re- ligion that prevailed among the Puritans — (asceticism being a common feature where persecution has pre- viously prevailed) — or from the influence of the low- lying marsh-lands which generated malignant malaria, certain it is that Cromwell fell into hypochondria and melancholy, and indulged in the practice of sending for Dr. Simcott in the middle of the night, fearing he was about to die. He was elected to serve in parliament for the bor- ough of Huntingdon in 1628, being then twenty-eight years old, and there in January, 1629, when the House of Commons had resolved itself into a commit- tee on religion/ Cromwell informed it of the Bishop of Winchester countenancing "Arminianism", so-called, as contradistinguished from the "predestinationism" of "Calvinism", the former not being "the real thing" in Puritanism. Steps would probably have been taken against the bishop notwithstanding the prohibition of the king, but on the second of March, 1629; the House adjourned. On the fifth, warrants were issued for the 10 apprehension of some of the riotous members, and on the tenth parliament was dissolved. - No parliament was held for twelve years afterward, the king govern- ing by prerogative, and Cromwell returned to the country to ruminate. In 1631 he sold his property at Huntingdon and bought a grazing farm at St. Ives, and in 1636, by the death of his maternal uncle, Sir Thomas Stuart, he be- came possessed of an estate in the Isle of Ely valued at near $2,500.00 a year, engaged vigorously in local pol- itics, and earned for himself the title of "Lord of the Fens". • To the short parliament which met in April 1640, he was returned for the University town of Cambridge in opposition to the court candidate, but the commons instead of voting supplies began to debate of grievances, monopolies, ship-money, star chambers, high commission, breach of their privileges, innovation in religion, and other matters too stimulating for the taste of the king, who on the fifth of May, 1640, dis- solved parliament and committed several members to "the Fleet," the name of a well-known prison of the day. The affairs of the kingdom, however, were rapidly getting into confusion, and a new parliament was indis- pensable. It met in November, 1640, and is known in history as the famous "Long Parliament". To this also Cromwell was returned for the scholastic town of Cambridge. To trace Cromwell's after- proceedings a word must be said on King Charles the First's dispute 11 with parliament. The parliament which had met in March, 1628, had presented a "Petition of Right" — to the king, praying — (for the following American Revolutionary rights subsequently attained about 150 years later) — First, that no loan or tax might be levied but by con- sent of Parliament. Second, that no man might be imprisoned but by le- gal process. Third, that soldiers might not be quartered on people against their wills. Fourth, that no commissions might be granted for executing martial law. To these the king answered, "I will that right be done according to the laws and customs of the realm." This reply, however, was not satisfactory, and both Houses addressed the king for a more definite settle- ment of the laws of the kingdom. In June, 1628, Charles gave answer in due form as follows, — "Soit droit fait comme il est desire", thereby converting the Petition into a law of the realm, and definitely agreeing that no loan or taxes should be levied but by consent of parliament. The principle had been infringed, and Hampden, who at his own risk and cost tried the case against the crown in 1638, was adjudged to pay shipmoney. The parliament that met in November, 1640, where Cromwell appeared very ordinarily appareled and without a hatband (a symbol of Democracy), pro- 12 ceeded to take up the question, and at once resolved that the levying of ship-money and the opinions of the judges upon it were illegal, — (possibly the first instance in history of the modern so-called "referendum" as applied to the judiciary). Pym, Hampden, Holies, and men of kindred stamp, were the radical leaders of this new parliament, and with them Cromwell cast in his lot, using his commanding though untunable voice to great service, and being, as Sir Philip Warwick ob- served, "very much hearkened unto." The Commons, in fact, urged on reforms with terrific haste. They impeached Archbishop Laud for (1) 'trying to alter the Protestant Religion into Popery" — (to use the exact language of the Articles of Im- peachment) — and (2) "to subvert the laws of the kingdom," — and placed him in custody preceding his execution. They threatened the judges and compelled them to give bail, — impeached Sir Robert Berkely, one of the judges, and actually took him off the bench in Westminster Hall, — passed a bill for triennial parlia- ments and another to abolish the Star Chamber, — voted the bishops out of parliament, — brought King Charles' chief counsellor, the Earl of Strafford, to trial for high treason and afterwards to "Tower Hill" for execution, — resolved that there should be no dissolution without consent of both Houses of Parliament, — and when the king attempted to apprehend the five mem- bers — Pym, Hampden, Holies, Hazelrig and Strode — they resolved that, — "Whoever should attempt to seize 13 any of their members or their papers, the members should stand on their defense", — thus anticipating by nearly fifty years (1689) "The Bill of Rights" passed by Parliament to the effect that "Taxation without repre- sentation is tyranny" — -the war-cry of the American Revolutionists in 1776, and which was a fundamental principle to maintain which the English people cut off the head of one king (Charles I) and sent another packing off to France. London was in a tumult. An armed multitude carried the five members in triumph to Westminster Hall, and four thousand mounted gentlemen and yeo- men from Buckinghamshire made their appearance to see that no wrong was done to their member, John Hampden. A Civil War was about to begin, and the King quitted Whitehall Palace not to again visit it except as a Captive. These proceedings had carried the parliament over rather more than a year. King Charles I and Court quitted Whitehall, the Royal Palace, on the 10th of January, 1642, and on the seventh of February, fol- lowing, Cromwell offered to lend $1,500.00, for the service of the Commonwealth, afterwards increased to $2,500.00. In August of the same year he was already on foot, doing active service, — says contempor- aneous history, "Mr. Cromwell in Cambridgeshire has seized the magazine of the Castle at Cambridge, and hath hindered the carrying off the plate from the University, which, as some report, is to the value of U Twenty Thousand Pounds ($100,000) or thereabouts." ' In September, 1642, Cromwell began his Military Career at forty-three years of age/ Robert, Earl of Essex, was "Lord'general for King and Parliament", which meant for Parliament against the King, and William, Earl of Bedford, commanded the Cavalry, having or about to have seventy-five troops of sixty men each, — in every troop a Captain, a Lieutenant, a Cornet and a Quartermaster. In Troop 67, Oliver Cromwell, Member of Parliament for Cambridge, was Captain, and in Troop 8, another Oliver Cromwell — probably the eldest son, killed early in battle, and lost sight of in after history was Cornet. CROMWELL'S RISE IN THE SCALE OF MILITARY RANK WAS AS FOLLOWS In September, 1642, he was Captain, — in March, 1643, he was Colonel. On the second of July, 1644, was fought the battle of "Marston Moor", at which, according to the newspapers of the time, "upon the left wing of Horse was the Earl of Manchester's whole Cavalry, under the command of Lieutenant-gen- eral Cromwell'' At this time General Cromwell was the first cavalry officer in England on the side of Parliament. This he was, not only in the estimate of the soldiers, but in the opinion of the then Sir Thomas Fairfax, — afterwards Lord Fairfax (whose lineal descendant is the only 'American Lord' in the British Parliament), — as also of the House of Commons. 15 Fairfax before the battle of "Nasby", wrote to the Commons requesting that Cromwell might be spared from his parliamentary duties, to command the whole of the cavalry. Fairfax, who had been rather worsted at "Marston Moor", and perhaps supposed that Crorrv well's success there depended on his command of cavalry, "has" says history, "resolved to decline the usual way of General, and to assume the command of Horse, and leave the Infantry to his Major in case Lieutenant-general Cromwell come not up in time". On the 14th of June, 1645, was fought the "Battle of Nasby", General Cromwell having arrived two days before only, — says history, — "amid shouts from the whole Army". As leader, he routed everything, seized the train and cannon of the royalists, took many prisoners, their standards, ensigns, seventy carriages and the King's own wagons, in one of them a cabinet of letters supposed to be of much consequence. In fact, Cromwell by his superb military skill and bravery, shivered the Royalist Army to atoms, and the King's cause was ruined beyond recovery. General Crom- well now stormed Bristol, Winchester and Basing- house, — finished the first Civil War, and handed England over to Parliament very much in the style of a conquered country, — for which he received the thanks of Parliament and a Grant of Two Thousand Pounds ($10,000.00) a year. In 1648 his military talents were again in requisition. He was in the north of Carlisle, Berwick and Edinburgh. 16 He was Commander-in-chief of the Army of Opera- tion but still remained only "Lieutenant-general." In December, 1648, he returned to London, and on the 29th of January, 1649, he signed the death-warrant of Charles the first. His position at this period should be noted. Practically he was the foremost man in his country, but perhaps the only agency upon which he could thoroughly de- pend, was the Army, and even a portion of that was tinctured with doctrines subversive of military discipline. The Parliament contained all the elements of disunion, and without the army, was impotent. A legislative assembly that assumed also the executive power of the State, has commonly proved itself a failure, and GENERAL CROMWELL NOW BEGAN TO OCCUPY THE CHIEF POSITION IN THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT He was, however, surrounded by difficulties. After the death of the King, probably not more than one-half of England was on the side of the Parliament. Also, there was in England a party of Anarchy,— the "Red- Republicans" of that day, called "Levellers", who, had it not been for Cromwell's consummate ability and resolution, would have attained a much more prom- inent place in the history of England. Ireland, again, was completely in favor of the Stuarts, and Scotland had proclaimed Charles II as king immediately after the death of his father. General 17 Cromwell wisely began at home. He soon settled the "Levellers", and put out the smouldering fire of Social Anarchy like a man who neither trifled nor jested, be- ing almost the only thing Cromwell could not do. Having settled England he went to Ireland. On the 22d of June, 1649, his commission was made out. This, however, arranged only the military part of the business. The Parliament then "considered of settling the civil power of the nation of Ireland," — whether by commission or otherwise. The House of Commons after a short debate, voted that Lieutenant-general Cromwell be Chief- governor of Ireland, and likewise that the civil and military power of that nation be settled on him during the time of his commission — three years. General Cromwell thus became "Lord-lieutenant of Ireland," With plenary power to do what he pleased in his own good judg- ment. What he did please to do was perhaps severe enough, — terrible knocking of everybody on the head when they resisted, under the belief that as stated by him, — "this bitterness will save much effusion of blood", — a belief verified in fact, and even in the opinion of those who have written against Cromwell. Drogheda (Tredah) and Wexford were taken by storm and the garrisons slaughtered. The example was successful, — the other towers surrendered upon easier terms. In nine months Ireland was subdued, and Cromwell, leaving his son-in-law, General Ireton, in command, 18 returned to England, was met in triumph at Hounslow Heath, and had the royal palace of St. James allotted for his residence. Soon after the death of the King, Prince Charles, who had taken refuge at The Hague, assumed the title of Charles II. In the spring of 1650, the commission- ers from Scotland negotiated with him at Breda. In June he repaired to Scotland, but before landing was obliged to undergo the process of taking "The Covenant," — i. e., "the renunciation of Popery," ad- herence to "the true religion" and the Presbyterian form of it, and "loyalty to the throne" — of Scotch origin. The Parliamentarians at once resolved to attack him, and General Fairfax ought, from his rank, to have taken the command, but the latter's wife, a Presby- terian, persuaded him to withdraw from public life, whereupon, says history, — "Oliver Cromwell, Esquire, was constituted Captain-general and commander-in-chief of all the forces raised or to be raised, by) authority of Parliament within the commonwealth of England. (June 26, 1650). CAMPAIGN IN SCOTLAND Captain-general Cromwell instantly proceeded to the work by virtue of his new commission. On the 29th of June, three days after his appointment to the supreme command, he set out for Scotland. On the 2 2d of July his army passed thru Berwick, thence to Cockburnpath, Dunbar, Haddington and Musselburg, 19 the Scottish Army under Gen. David Lesley lying be- tween Edinburgh and Lieth. Cromwell could not attack Lesley in his fastnesses, and in a fortnight he found that sickness and want of provisions compelled him to retreat. He fell back on Dunbar, Lesley follow- ing him at once. Cromwell was blocked up and surrounded, as he himself expressed it, — "at the pass at Copperspath, through which we cannot get without almost a miracle". His faith, however, did not fail him. "All shall work for good," he said, — "our spirits are comfortable, praised be the Lord". On the 2d of September (1650) he observed that Lesley was altering his position, com- ing down the hill and moving his left wing of cavalry over to his right wing, a dangerous experiment it would seem, in face of the Captain -general. A council of war was held. It was resolved not to wait for Lesley's attack, but before break of day to begin the battle of Dunbar. "The enemy's whole numbers," writes Cromwell, "were very great, almost six thou- sand horse and ten thousand foot at least, ours drawn down as to sound men to about seven thousand five hundred foot and three thousand five hundred horse." The enemy's' war-cry was "the Covenant", which it had been for divers days, — ours was "the Lord of hosts". In an hour the Captain-general utterly demolished the Presbyterian army, with a loss to his own, as he writes, of "about twenty or thirty men." (Sept. 3d, 1650) 20 From Dunbar Cromwell returned to Edinburgh to besiege the Castle, which was surrendered to him by Colonel Walter Dundas, the Governor, on the 24th of December. He remained in Scotland til! August, 1651. He had taken possession of Perth, and being thus to the north of the Scottish royal forces, which were stationed with Charles at their head at Stirling. Charles ventured a desperate game, a sort of double or quits for the whole stake that Cromwell had gained, and Charles had lost. Charles broke up his quarters and marched southward into England. On the 2 2d of August, 1651, the royal standard of Charles was raised at Worcester, England, and there on the 28th the hunv ble and praying "rebel" "Captain-general Cromwell" was front to front and ready for battle with the King, Charles the second. Cromwell went to work without delay, threw a bridge of boats over Severn, and another across the Teme. These boat-bridges were ready on the afternoon of the 3d of September (1651), the same day on which had been fought the Battle of Dunbar a year before, — "Whereupon", says contem- poraneous history, "the General presently commanded Colonel Ingleby's and Colonel Fairfax's regiments with part of his own regiment and the Life Guards and Colonel Hacker's regiment of horse, over the river — his excellency himself leading them in person, and being the first man to set foot on the enemy's ground.'' "The battle of Worcester" ended in a total rout, and about seven in the evening the king with various dukes, 21 earls and lords, fled from the city by St. Martin's gate to find a refuge with the Penderels, and to take shelter in the royal Oak and across the sea. Cromwell be- haved magnificently. "My Lord-general did exceedingly hazard himself, riding up and down in the midst of the shot, and riding himself in person to the enemy's foot, offering them quarter whereunto they returned no answer but shot, " says the historian. This was Cromwell's last battle, and the last oc- casion in which Scotland ever appeared in a national capacity. Scotland had gone to wreck with factions and dissentions, and her individuality as an independent kingdom had no longer a place in history. At Aylesburg on his return to London, Cromwell was met by a deputation from the House of Commons and Council of State. The superb castle, Hampton Court, built by Cardinal Wolsey for King Henry the Eighth, was prepared for Cromwell's residence, and an income of Four Thousand Pounds ($20,000) a year in addition to his fomer grant, was voted by Parliament to him. HIS MILITARY CAREER Let us biefly review Oliver Cromwell's Military Career. Nine years previously we found him an Eng- lish Squire, engaged in the cultivation of his lands — now we find him the incomparable soldier who has achieved in fair and open warfare the conquest of England, the conquest of Ireland, and the successful in- vasion and annexation of Scotland — and all this without anything that could be called a reverse! His progress was ever onward, forward, upward. However the fortunes of others might fluctuate, Crom- well was always making way, always driving definitely toward a single point, and that point, the supreme power. He was not only the man of supreme ability, but acknowledged to be so, the man to whom the nation Was obliged to apply, for he alone had the master-hand that could guide the ship of state through the storms, the troubles, the quicksands and the many dangers which on every side beset the republican commonwealth which he had virtually established. No sooner had the military operations terminated than it became necessary to settle the form of govern- ment in fact, and it was here, possibly, that Cromwell first allowed the ambition of personal aggrandizement to mix with what he conceived to be his duty to his country. The power was virtually in his own hand, the temptation very strong. If the nation had placed the Crown upon his head at this period, would he have allowed it to remain there without any question? No, — for he later positively refused to be crowned king* saying his conscience would not allow it. Parliament was jealous of his influence, and war with Holland once more withdrew attention from the settlement of the form of the nation's constitution. It was absolutely necessary, however, that there 23 should be an Executive Government, and Cromwell resolved to take the power into his own hands by FORCIBLE DISMISSAL OF THE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT He took a file of Dragoons, went down to the House of Commons, ordered the Speaker out of the Chair, told the members they had sat there long enough for all the good they had done, and waxing vehement, exclaimed, "You are no longer a parlia- ment; the Lord has done with you; he has chosen other instruments for carrying on his work". He told Vane, the brilliant orator, he was a jugler; Chaloner, that he was a drunkard; Allan, that he cheated the public; Masten and Wentworth, that they were exceeding improper persons; told one of his soldiers to "take away that fool's bauble," the Mace (symbol of the authority of the Speaker of the House) and finished by turning out the Members and locking the doors! This was on the 20th of April, 1653, and in July he summoned by his own authority, the — BAREBONES PARLIAMENT so-called from one "Praise- God Barebone," a leather seller of Fleet Street, London, who was one of the members. On the 12th of December, same year, the "Barebones Parliament" resolved to resign its power into the hands of Cromwell, and on the 16th of De- cember, 1653, the Captain-General became sovereign- ruler under the title of " Lord -protector of the 2h commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland." The Decree of the Court of Chancery which established the protectorate was read in Westminster Hall with formal ceremonies, in presence of the Council of Officers, the Lord-Mayor and Aldermen, the Commis- sioners, and other officials. BY THE "INSTRUMENT QF GOVERNMENT" ( as it was termed ) Cromwell was to call parliament every three years. He had also power to make war or peace, — he and his Council could make laws which should be binding during the intervals of parliament. By these provisions the government resembled an Autocracy. But, on the other hand, no parliament could be dissolved until it had sat five months, and bills passed in parliament were to become law after a lapse of twenty days, even if not confirmed. By these provisions the national government closely resembled — . A REPUBLIC WITH A PRESIDENT But inasmuch as Cromwell was Commander-in-Chief of the Army as well as first magistrate of the State, and the protectorship was elective, the real nature of the gov- ernment was that of a constitutional republic, with specif- ic limitations, somewhat of an antetype of our own federal system before the adoption of the U. S. Constitution. Civil and religious disputes could not fail to arise 25 regarding the authority and jurisdiction of the various powers in the State, and hence another step was still necessary to place the Protector on the highest summit. This issue came in the year 1657. In April of that year a committee of parliament mooted the question of £/ngs/irp and royal title. The republican officers in the Army, however, declared against the assumption, and Cromwell, himself, as already stated, was strongly and conscientiously op- posed to it and positively refused the bauble, for he was trying to establish a republican "commonwealth" as it was called. Cromwell declined the title for the reason as stated by himself, he "could not with a good conscience accept the government under the title of fang" Nevertheless, his powers were enlarged by a new instrument called "THE PETITION AND ADVICE" An annual sum of One Million, Three Hundred Thousand Pounds ($6,500,000) was allotted for the support of his government; he was empowered to create a Second Chamber or "Upper House," corres- ponding to the House of Lords or United States Senate, which, however, had only a brief existence, being dissolved by the Protector fourteen days after it had met; and he was also empowered to nominate his successor, the protectorate thereby ceasing to be elect- ive, and his "Excellency" becoming, to all intents, the Military and Civil Ruler of the realm, with powers 26 which a good man might use well, but which in other hands might be nothing short of an atrocious tyranny, more dangerous to the State than the despotism of the Stuarts, and absolutely intolerable to the people of England. His government was not a Monarchy in which the king reigned by law, with recognized rights and limitations of prerogative, but an autocracy, — military absolutism — converted into constitutional autoc- racy by the powers that had been formally conferred or were immediately assumed, and which were used without reserve against the cringing parliaments and the corrupt Courts of Law. CROMWELL AS A STATESMAN The Lord- Protector, as a Statesman, is one of the most unique character studies ever submitted to the scrutiny of the student of statecraft or political history. Unbiased history declares that England under his rule was unquestionably the strongest state in Europe, both on sea and land, and yet no sooner had he departed this life than it fell, as if by magic, into the utmost ex- tremity of immeasurable weakness. Its next monarch — Charles II — was a pensioner on the bounty of that magnificent Frenchman, King Louis XIV. In the field of war, Cromwell was everywhere triumphant, yet no sooner was he gone, than the military and naval oper- ations of England became puerile and ludicrous. Cromwell's flag, the red cross of St. George, swept 27 from the oceans every hostile banner. France, Hol- land and Spain were all humbled into maritime sub- mission, and the Barbary corsairs were scourged into good behavior; piracy was annihilated, and the naval supremacy of England was established as an unquestioned and indisputable fact. Yet Cromwell gone, and the Dutch Navy with impunity, sailed up the Thames and the Medway. THE MORALITY OF HIS COURT He had the most moral Court that had ever been known in the history of Europe, yet a few short years saw Vice unblushingly enthroned, and the silken shoe of the courtesan treading the halls that had echoed to the jackboots of Oliver Cromwell and his pious, invincible "Ironsides'. In Cromwell's time the judge sat in the magnificence of rectitude, and for the first time in the history of modern nations, JUSTICE was administered in the fear of LAW and of GOD. Yet our Hero gone, and Judge Jeffries the Monster springs from the pande- monium of the corrupted English Law. Everything seemed to decay and ferment into corruption. As if the force of gravity had been removed from the terrestrial economy, no sooner was the iron will of Cromwell removed from the "COMMONWEALTH" of Eng- land, than chaos, confusion and failure seemed to invade every department of the "KINGDOM" of England and every operation of the body politic. 2H Defeat, disgrace and shame took the places of victory, honor and esteem, until the manhood of England was once more roused, and the last STUART in ignomin- ious flight took refuge with the neighbor nation whom Cromwell would have bearded with the sword. The contrast between England in the time of the PROTECTOR, and England in the time of Charles I and Charles II, the last Roman Catholic ruler, and James II (A. D. 1625 1688) is one of the most remarkable that has been recorded on the pages of History. Tragedy or Comedy, it is the strangest drama that has been played in England since the Saxon dy- nasty died out at Hastings, and England became the heritage of the feudal and punctilious Normans of Fiance. RELIGIOUS TOLEKATION Although Lord -Protector Cromwell failed to transmit a Constitution to England, he taught the great lesson of his dav the greatest lesson that England or the World has ever learned that of religious toleration. This was in (act his grand achievement the great and noble work which will ever weave around the brow of Oliver Cromwell a chaplet of unfading glory. OLIVER CROMWELL WAS THE APOSTLE OF RE- LIGIOUS TOLERATION, AND AS SUCH HIS NAME SHOULD FOREVER BE HONORED IN THE REPUB LIC OF AMERICA! The later period of the protectorate was a dreary J!> experience of the pain and trouble which attend on those who govern factious men. It was another evidence that power is not happiness, and that the highest dignities of the world confer no lasting happiness, and can never satisfy the longings of an ardent spirit. Oliver Cromwell did his duty after his own fashion and according to his own understanding, forgetful, per- haps occasionally, that laws made by the common judgement of the nation are quite as essential as the individual inspirations of even the wisest rulers. If he did not die the death of a martyr, he in some degree lived the life of a martyr, and faced his difficulties with an heroic soul that would not acknowledge defeat. HIS DEATH The time came when our Hero must die, and this, perhaps, was the noblest scene of his eventful life. He had lived with freedom of conscience in his heart, and he died with freedom of conscience in his heart, praying in the sublimity of death, that God would give the British People, as he termed it, "consistency of judg' ment — one heart and mutual love," (the brotherhood of man?) interceding, as it were, with Him who had been his own protector for those who had not seen so clearly into the Invisible World, and praying as all good Englishmen and Americans should pray, that God would pardon those who desired to trample on his dust. So died the greatest ruler of Britain on the 3d of 30 September, 1658. As Thomas Carlyle says, "THE BRAVEST AND MOST SUCCESSFUL HERO THAT ENGLAND HAS EVER SEEN— A MAN WHO STANDS ALONE IN THE HISTORY OF HIS COUN- TRY,- YET AN ENIGMA, WHICH ALL MEN GUESS AT, YET NONE ARE AGREED ABOUT THE ANSWER." Cromwell was taken ill at the royal palace of Hampton Court, on August 12th, 1658, of a fever partly brought on, perhaps, by his excessive grief at the death of his favorite daughter, Lady Claypole. He removed to Whitehall and there he expired on the third of September, in the sixtieth year of his age, hav- ing held the sovereignty, under the title of Lord Protector, for four years, eight months and eighteen days. It was the anniversary of his two great victories at Dunbar and Worcester, and the same day happened the greatest storm of wind ever known in England. On the 23d of November, the state funeral took place, with great pomp in Henry VII's Chapel in Westminster Abbey. The casket containing the body had been privately deposited sometime before in the Abbey, and it was only the effigy that lay in state at Summerset House, and to which the official and cost- ly honors were paid. RESTORATION OF THE STUART DYNASTY In 1660 the "Restoration" of the Stuart dynasty took place, for which the English Church up to a recent 31 date, still gave thanks, as an "unspeakable mercy," and on the 30th of January, 1661, the bodies of Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton and John Bradshaw — who with 56 other members of parliament ("regicides" so- called) had all signed the death-warrant of King Charles 1 — were drawn upon sledges to Tyburn. The account is given in the newspapers of the time as follows: "When these three carcasses were at Tyburn, they were pulled out of their coffins, and hanged at the several angles of the triple tree, where they hung till the sun was set, after which they were taken down, their heads cut off, and their loathsome trunks were thrown into a deep hole under the gallows. The heads of these three notorious regicides, Oliver Crom- well, John Bradshaw and Henry Ireton are set upon poles on the top of Westminster Hall by the common hangman, Bradshaw is placed in the middle, Crom- well and his son-in-law, Ireton, on both sides of Bradshaw." A live ass may kick a dead lion. As Speaker Clark of the U. S. House of Represen- tatives has said, "It has taken England some 250 years to rise to an appreciation of Oliver Cromwell's greatness sufficiently to erect a life-size, bronze monu- ment to his memory in the grounds of the Houses of Parliament." The Earl of Manchester, in a formal letter to the House of Lords, under date of December, 1644, as Commander-in-chief of the Parliamentary army, writes of Cromwell as follows: "Lieftenant-general Cromwell 32 knows that I alwaies placed him in the chiefest esteeme and creditt with mee. But his expressions were some- times against the Nobilitie, — that he 'hoped to live to see never a nobleman in England,* and he 'loved such better than others because they did not love lords. 7 He hath further expressed himself with contempt of the assembly of divines whom he termed persecutors." Is not our Hero, therefore, really one of the Founders of the modern Republic of the United States of America? CROMWELL'S PERSONAL APPEARANCE Sir Philip Warwick describes Cromwell as he first appeared in Parliament in the year 1628, when but twenty-eight years old, as follows: "I came into the House one morning, well-clad, and perceived a gentleman speaking whom I knew not, very ordinarily appareled, for it was a plain cloth suit, which seemed to have been made by an ill-country tailor. His linen was plain, and not very clean, and I remember a speck or two of blood upon his little-band which was not much larger than his collar. His hat was without a hatband. His stature was of a good size, — his sword stuck close to his side, — his counte- nance swoln and reddish, — his voice sharp and un- tunable, and his eloquence full of fervour. He was much hearkened unto.'' Thomas Carlyle, in his "Oliver Cromwell", writing of his appearance at the time of his installation as Lord Protector, quoting contemporaneous data, says: "His highness was in a rich but plain suit, — black velvet, with cloak of same, — about his hat a broad band of gold. . . . Stands some five feet ten or more, a man of strong, solid stature, and dignified, now partly military carriage; the expression of him valour and devout intelligence, — energy and delicacy on a basis of simplicity. . . . Fifty-four years old, ruddy-fair com- plexion, bronzed by toil and age, light brown hair and moustache are getting streaked with gray. . . . Mas- sive stature, big massive head, of somewhat leonine aspect, wart above the right eyebrow* nose of consider- able blunt, aquiline proportions, strict yet copious lips, full of all tremulous sensibilities, and also if need were, of all fierceness and rigours; deep, loving eyes, call them grave, call them stern, looking from under those craggy brows, as if in life-long sorrow, and yet not thinking it sorrow, thinking it only labour and endeavor; on the whole, a right noble lion-face and hero-face, and to me royal enough." It may be added, parenthetically, Cromwell was exceedingly fond of music. *See death'mask. — A. L. H. 34 „_ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 020 690 756 3