trust. nation. He sat down for Afterward starting up sudinspiration or insanity, he reproaches for its tyranny, had come with a purpose of doing what grieved him to the very soul, and what he had earnestly besought the Lord not to impose upon him; but there was a necessity, he added, for the glory of God, and the good of the some time, and heard the debates. denly, as if under the influence of loaded the parliament with the keenest oppression, and robbery of the public. Then stamping with his foot, which was a signal for the soldiers to enter, "For shame!" said he to the members, "get you gone! and give place to honest men; to those who will more faithfully discharge their You are no longer a parliament! I tell you, you are no longer a parliament! The Lord hath done with you; he hath chosen other instruments for carrying on his work." Sir Henry Vane remonstrating against this outrage, Cromwell exclaimed with a loud voice, "Oh, sir Harry Vane; sir Harry Vane! the Lord deliver me from sir Harry Vane ;" words by which it should seem that he wished some of the soldiers to dispatch him. Taking hold of Martin by the cloak, "Thou art a whore-master!" said he; to another, "Thou art an adulterer!" to a third, "Thou art a drunkard and glutton!" and to a fourth, “Thou art an extortioner!" He commanded a soldier to seize the mace, saying, "What shall we do with this bauble?-Here, take it away!-It is you," added he, addressing himself to the members, "that have forced me to proceed thus. I have sought the Lord, night and day, that he would rather slay me than put me upon this work!" And, having previously commanded the soldiers to clear the house, he ordered the door to be locked, put the key in his pocket, and retired to his lodgings in Whitehall'. Thus, my dear Philip, did Oliver Cromwell, in a manner so suitable to his general character, and without bloodshed, annihilate the very shadow of the parliament; and by this daring step he acquired the whole civil and military power of the three kingdoms. And dispassionate reasoners, of all parties, who had successively enjoyed the melancholy pleasure of seeing the injuries they had reciprocally suffered revenged on their enemies, were at last made sensible, that licentious liberty, under whatever pretence its violences may be covered, must inevitably end in the arbitrary and despotic government of a single person. Nor were 1 Whitelocke, p. 554,-Ludlow, vol. ii.-Clarendon, vol. vi.-Hume, vol. vii. the people, considered as a body, displeased at the violent usurpation of Cromwell, from whom they expected more lenity than from the imperious republicans. This extraordinary man, who now lorded it over his fellowsubjects, was born of a good family at Huntingdon. His education was liberal; but his genius being little fitted for the elegant and tranquil pursuits of literature, he made no great proficiency in his studies, either at school or at the university of Cambridge. He even threw himself into a dissolute course of life, when sent to study the law in one of the inns of court, and consumed the earlier years of his manhood in gaming, drinking and debauchery. But suddenly he was seized with religious qualms; affected a grave and sanctified behaviour, and was soon distinguished among the puritanical party by the fervour of his devotional exercises. To repair his injured fortune, which never had been very considerable, he betook himself to farming; but he spent so much time with his family in prayers, that this new occupation served only to involve him in greater difficulties. His spiritual reputation, however, was so high, that notwithstanding the low state of his temporal affairs, he found means to be chosen a member of the Long-Parliament. The ardour of his zeal frequently prompted him to speak in the house; but he was not heard with attention; his person being ungraceful, his voice untunable, his elocution embarrassed, and his speeches tedious, obscure, confused, and often unintelligible. But, as a profound thinker very justly observes, there are, amidst the variety of human geniuses, some who, though they see their objects clearly and distinctly in general, yet, when they come to unfold their ideas in discourse or writing, lose that luminous conception which they had before attained. Never was this philosophical truth more fully exemplified than in the character of Oliver Cromwell, whose actions were as decisive, prompt, and judicious, as his speeches were wavering, prolix, and inconclusive. Nor were his written compositions much superior to his speeches; the great defect of both consisting not in the want of expression, but in the seeming want of ideas. Yet Cromwell, though he had entered his forty-fourth year before he embraced the military profession, soon became an excellent officer, without the help of a master. He first raised a troop, and then a regiment of horse; and it was he who instituted that discipline, and infused that spirit, which rendered the parliamentary forces in the end victorious. He introduced and recommended the practice of enlisting the sons of farmers and freeholders, instead of the debauched and enervated inhabitants of great cities or manufacturing towns. He preached, he prayed, he fought, he punished, he rewarded; and inspired, first his own regiment, and afterward the whole army, with the wildest and boldest enthusiasm. The steps by which he rose to high command, and attained to sovereignty, we have already had occasion to trace. Let us now view him in the exercise of his authority. When Cromwell assumed the reins of government, he had three parties in the nation against him; the royalists, the presbyterians, and the republicans. But as each of these had a violent antipathy against both the others, none of them could become formidable to the army: and the republicans, whom he had dethroned, and whose resentment he had most occasion to fear, were farther divided among themselves. Besides the independents, they consisted of two sets of men, who had a great contempt for each other; namely, the Millenarians, or fifthmonarchy men, who were in expectation of the second coming of Christ; and the Deists, who utterly denied the truth of revelation, and considered the tenets of the various sects as alike founded in folly and error. The Deists were particularly obnoxious to Cromwell, partly from a belief in Christianity (which he retained amidst all his atrocities), but chiefly because he could have no hold of them by enthusiasm. He therefore treated them with great rigour, and usually denominated them the Heathens'. The heads of this small division were Algernon Sidney, Henry Nevil, Chaloner, Martin, Wildman, and Harrington; men whose abilities might have rendered them dangerous, had not the freedom of their opinions excited the indignation of all parties 2. Cromwell paid more attention to the Millenarians, who had great interest in the army, and whose narrow understanding and 2 Burnet, vol. i. 2 Each of the other sects wished to erect a spiritual as well as a temporal dominion; but the Deists, who acted only on the principles of civil liberty, were for abolishing the very appearance of a national church, and leaving religion free, as they called it, without either encouragement or restraint. (Burnet, vol. i.) Such a project was particularly alarming to the spiritual pride of the presbyterians, who, since the signing of the covenant, had considered their religion as the hierarchy. And Cromwell not only quieted them on this head, by assuring them that he would still maintain a public ministry with all due encouragement, but even in some measure conciliated their affections by joining them in a commission with some independents, to be examiners of those who were to be admitted to benefices, and also to dispose of all the churches that were in the gift of the crown, of the bishops, and of the cathedrals. (Id. ibid) The episcopalians were merely tolerated. enthusiastic temper afforded full scope for the exercise of his pious deceptions. These men, while they anxiously expected the second coming of Christ, believed that the saints, among whom they considered themselves as standing in the first class, alone had a right to govern in the mean time. Cromwell, in conformity with this way of thinking, told them he had only stepped in between the living and the dead, to keep the nation, during that interval, from becoming a prey to the common enemy And, in order to show them how willing he was that they should share his power, since God in his providence had thrown the whole load of government upon his shoulders, he sent writs, by the advice of his council of officers, to a hundred and twentyeight persons, chiefly gifted men, of different towns and counties of England and Wales; to five of Scotland, and to six of Ireland. To these illiterate enthusiasts, chosen by himself, he pretended to commit the whole authority of the state, under the denomination of the parliament; and as one of the most active and illuminated among them, a leather-seller in London, bore the "name of Praise God Barebone, this contemptible assembly was ludicrously called Barebone's Parliament'. Cromwell told these fanatical legislators, on their first July 4. meeting, that he never looked to see such a day when Christ should be so owned: and they, elate with the important dignity to which they supposed themselves exalted, as well as encouraged by the overflowings of the Holy Spirit, thought it their duty to proceed to a thorough reformation, and to pave the way for the reign of the Redeemer. Meanwhile the Dutch ambassadors endeavoured to enter into a negotiation with them: but, although protestants and even presbyterians, they met with an unfriendly reception from senators who had pretensions to such superior sanctity; being regarded as worldly-minded men, intent only on commerce and industry: and whom it was proper that the saints should extirpate, before they undertook the subduing of Antichrist, the Man of Sin, and extending of the Redeemer's kingdom to the farthest corners of the earth. The ambassadors, who were strangers to such wild doctrines, remained in astonishment, at finding themselves regarded enemies, not of England, but of Christ! Even Cromwell himself began to be ashamed of the pageant 1 Burnet, vol. i. 3 Milton's State Papers, p. 106. 2 Whitelocke.-Clarendon. 5 Thurloe, vol. i. p. 273, 391. he had set up as a legislature, and with which he meant only to amuse the populace and the army. But what particularly displeased him was, that the members of this enthusiastic parliament, though they derived their authority solely from him, began to pretend powers from the Lord'; and as he had been careful to summon in his writs several persons warm in his interest, he hinted to some of them, that the continuance of such parliament would be of no service to the nation. They accordingly met sooner than usual, as had been concerted; and repairing, with Rous, the speaker, to the council of officers, declared themselves unequal to the task which they had unwarily undertaken, and resigned their delegated power. But general Harrison, and about twenty other fanatics, remained in the house: and that they might prevent the reign of the saints from coming to an untimely end, they placed one Moyer in the chair, and were preparing to draw up protests, when they were interrupted by colonel White and a party of soldiers. The colonel asked them what they did there? "We are seeking the Lord," said they," Then you may go elsewhere," replied he; "for to my certain knowledge, he has not been here these many years "." Dec. 16. The council of officers, by virtue of that pretended power which the mock parliament had resigned into their hands, now voted, that it was necessary to temper the liberty of a republic by the authority of a single person. And being in possession of that argument which silences all others, namely force, they prepared what was called the Instrument of Government, and declared Oliver Cromwell Protector, or supreme magistrate of the commonwealth, the name of king being still odious in their ears. He was accordingly conducted to Whitehall with great solemnity, Lambert carrying the sword of state before him he was honoured with the title of Highness; and having taken the oath required of him, he was proclaimed in the three kingdoms without the smallest opposition 3. The chief articles in the instrument of government were, that the protector should be assisted by a council of state, which should not consist of more than twenty-one, or of less than thirteen persons; that in his name all justice should be administered, and from him all honours derived; that he should have the right of peace and war, and enjoy the power of the sword jointly with the parliament Thurloe, vol. i. 393. P. 2 Parl. Hist. vol. xx. 3 Clarendon.-Whitelocke. |