Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

that some of the last words of Cromwell were "rather becoming a mediator than a sinner."

It was on the 3d of September, his auspicious day, that Cromwell was removed from the cares and doubtful glories of the high station to which he had climbed. A violent storm, which extended its ravages over the greater part of Southern Europe, either preceded or immediately followed the death of the Protector; trees were torn up by the roots in St.. James's Park, and houses were unroofed in the city; an incident which gave rise to much foolish superstition and wicked drollery. His fanatical admirers discovered in this war of the elements, an indication of the great importance attached by Divine Providence to the character and services of the deceased; while the royalists, on the other hand, ascribed the atmospherical commotion to a feeling of rivalry among the evil spirits who rule the power of the air, each striving for the honour of conducting the usurper's soul to the place of punishment. It was about four in the afternoon when he ceased to breathe. The lamentations of the surrounding relatives reached the ears of Sterry, who immediately desired them to dry up their tears, assuring them they had more reason to rejoice than to weep. "He was your Protector here, he will prove a still more powerful protector, now that he is with Christ at the right hand of the Father."*

"Tillotson told me that a week after Cromwell's death, he being by accident at Whitehall, and hearing there was to be a fast that day in the household, he, out of curiosity, went into the Presence Chamber where it was held. On the one side of a table, Richard, with the rest of Cromwell's family were placed, and six of the preachers were on the other side; Thomas, Goodwin, Owen, Carril, and Sterry. Then he heard a great deal of strange stuff, enough to disgust a man for ever of that enthusiastic boldness. God was, as it were, reproached with Cromwell's services, and challenged for taking him away so soon. Goodwin, who had pretended to assure them in a prayer that he was not to die, which was but a very few minutes before he expired, had now the impudence to say to God, 'Thou hast deceived us, and we were deceived.' Sterry, praying for Richard, used these indecent words, next to blasphemy, Make him the brightness of his father's glory, and the express image of his person.""-BURNET, vol. i. p. 141.

The magnificence which he had affected in his latter years, accompanied his remains to the tomb. His funeral was conducted with more than royal expense and grandeur. The disease of which he died rendered speedy interment necessary; but, in the meanwhile, a figure of wax was dressed up in royal robes, having a sceptre in one hand, and a globe in the other, a crown on the head, and surrounded with armour, banners, and standards, together with other ensigns of honour. The whole

room, which was spacious, was adorned in a majestical manner; and several of his late highness's gentlemen attended about the effigy bareheaded; in which manner it continued until the 23d of November. On the day now named, the funeral procession moved from Somerset-House to Westminster, when the coffin was deposited in the sepulchre of kings, in the chapel of Henry the Seventh.*

The limits of my undertaking do not extend beyond the death of the Protector, either as subsequent events respected the interests of his family, or of the nation at large. The main object of this sketch of so important a life, was to supply facts on which the reader might form his judgment of that extraordinary man, whose actions, at a most important period, made so deep an impression among European

"Saw the superb funeral of the Protector. He was carried from Somerset-House on a velvet bed of state, drawn by six horses, harnessed with the same: the pal! was held up by his new lords; Oliver lying in effegie in royall robes, and crowned with a crown, sceptre, and globe, like a king. The pendants and guidons were carried by the officers of the army; the imperial banners, achievments, &c. by the hereaulds in their coates; a rich caparisoned horse, embroidered all over with gold; a knight of honour armed cap-a-pie; and after all, his guards, souldiers, and innumerable mourners. In this equipage they proceeded to Westminster; but it was the joyfullest funeral I ever saw, for there was none that cried but dogs, which the souldiers hooted away with a barbarous noise, drinking and taking tobacco in the streets as they went."-EVELYN'S Diary, Nov. 1658.

"Oliverus

The inscription on the coffin of Cromwell was as follows: Protector Reipublicae Angliae, Scotiae, et Hiberniae, Natus 250 Aprilis, Anno 15990, Inauguratus 160 Decembris 1653, Mortuus 30 Septe abris 1658°, hic situs est."

states, and whose character has ever since divided the opinions of historians, politicians, and even of divines. To accomplish this purpose, I have, with a degree of impartiality which may be thought to border upon an insipid indifference, related the principal occurrences in which he bore a part, from the time that he emerged from his obscurity at Huntingdon, till he consumed his life amid the labours and anxieties of supreme power. By following this plan, I have at least supplied the proper evidence on which all reasoning as to his character and motives ought to be founded; and by which our conclusions as to the rank which is due to him as a soldier, a magistrate, and a statesman, ought to be determined.

The duty of a biographer, perhaps, would not be thought completed, did I not give my own opinion relative to the more prominent points of Cromwell's history, and on the leading qualities of his mind in the several aspects in which it presented itself to public inspection. If such a task be at all incumbent upon a compiler of facts, this is certainly the proper stage for performing it; for which reason I shall devote the last chapter of this volume to a review of the Protector's character in the various relations under which the events of his life have passed before us-in the domestic circle, the field of battle, the cabinet, and in the offices of religion.*

[ocr errors]

*See Note G, at the end of this volume, for a letter written by General Monk in Scotland, announcing the death of the Protector.

CHAPTER V.

Containing a Review of Cromwell's Actions and Character in the relations of Private as well as of Public Life.

I. No man was ever composed of more jarring elements than Oliver Cromwell. His character was made up of contrarieties; and hence the fact, that abundant materials have been supplied to those who have wished to represent him as the worst of human beings, as well as to that equally inconsiderate class of biographers who have held him up as the model of a sincere Christian and a good ruler. His natural temper appears to have been sullen and enthusiastic; susceptible of deep impressions, and reluctant to yield any sentiment or opinion which had once taken hold of his conviction. Impatient of the lot in which Providence had placed him, he became reckless and discontented in the earlier part of his life; and afterward, when the current of public events seemed to bring great objects within the reach of the active and the daring, he assumed the principles of a reformer in church and state; found fault with every thing around him, and stimulated others who had more influence than himself, to seize so favourable an Opportunity for extending the power of the people, as well as for obtaining individual distinction. His own confession, when he first entered parliament, that "he knew what he would not have, but he did not know what he would have," describes the restless undefined ambition which at that time agitated his soul, and which made him equally ready to encounter the privations of a remote colony, where he should meet with no superior, or to fight his way to eminence at home,

where he hoped soon to see the highest consent to become his equals.

The enthusiasm of his spirit necessarily led him into the transports, ecstasies, and revelations which were common in his time. Indeed, he retained throughout his whole life symptoms of that elation and excitement which were remarked in the first stage of his personal reformation; and which at a later period were imputed, according to the different principles of the observers, to an overstrained imagination, to the inspiration of the Deity, or to infernal possession. Before his memorable victories of Dunbar and Worcester, his eyes were observed to sparkle, his frame became agitated, and he burst out into strange and violent fits of laughter. At no time, in fact, was he himself altogether free from the nervous excitability, or fanatical phrensy, which he knew so well how to excite and to direct in others.*

The character which attached to his early days, has been already analyzed with sufficient minuteness. That he was a free liver cannot be concealed; but, except the attempt which he made to seize his uncle's property, under the pretext that the worthy knight was no longer able to manage his affairs, we find nothing in the traditionary notices which have come down to us, which could be candidly employed. to prove the want of ordinary moral principle, or of domestic kindness. He is said, indeed, to have been vindictive, and disposed to cherish for years the remembrance of a bad turn at the hand of a political or theological adversary. Of this malign propensity his historians have given several examples; and particularly in the case of certain clergymen who opposed his views in regard to a lectureship, and who were afterward made to feel the weight of his resentment in the deprivation of their benefices. That Cromwell was capable of the most atrocious

* Warwick's Memoirs, p. 276. Note in Edinburgh Edition.

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »