drinking and debauchery. But all of a sudden, he was seized with a religious qualm; affected a grave and sanctified behaviour, and was soon distinguished among the puritanical party, by the fervour of his devotional exercises. In order to repair his injured fortune, he betook himself to farm ing; but he spent so much time with his family in prayers, morning and afternoon, that this new occupation served only to involve him in greater difficulties. His spiritual repu tation, 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 rise 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, in a great variety of human geniuses, some who, though they see their objects clearly and distinctly in general, yet when they come to unfold their ideas by discourse or writ ing, 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 upward of forty years of age, 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 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. Beside the independents, they consisted of two sets of men, who had a mutual contempt for each other; namely, the millenarians, or fifth-monarchy-men, who expected suddenly 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 peculiarly obnoxious to Cromwell; partly from the remains of religious prejudice, but chiefly because he could have no hold on them by enthusiasm. He therefore treated them with great rigour, and usually denominated them the beatbens33. The heads of this small division were Algernon Sidney, Henry Nevil, Challoner, Martin, Wildman, and Harrington; men whose abilities might have rendered them dangerous, had not the freedom of their opinions excited the indignation of all parties3+. Cromwell 33. Burnet, vol. i. 34. Each of the other sects was desirous of erecting a spiritual as well as a temporal dominion; but the deists, who acted only on the principle of civil liberty, were for abolishing the very appearance of a national church, and leaving religion free, as they called it, without either encour agement or restraint. (Burnet, vol. i.) Such a prospect was particularly alarming to the spiritual pride of the presbyterians; who, since the sign. ing of the covenant, had considered their religion as the hierarchy. And Cromwell Cromwell paid more attention to the Millenarians, who had great interest in the army, and whose narrow understanding and 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 to stand in the first class, were alone entitled to govern in the meantime. Cromwell, in conformity with this way of thinking, told them he had only stept in between the living and the dead, to keep the nation during that interval, from becoming a prey to the common enemy35. And in order to shew them how willing he was they should share his power, since God in his providence had thrown the whole load of government upon his shoulders, he sent, by the advice of his council of officers, summons to an hundred and twenty-eight persons, chiefly gifted men, of different towns and counties of England: to five of Scotland, and to six of Ireland. On these illiterate enthusiasts, chosen by himself, he pretended to devolve 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 Barbone, this contemptible assembly was ludicrously called Barbone's parliament36. Cromwell told these fanatical legislators, on their first meeting, that he never looked to see such a day when Christ should be so owned37; and they, elated with that high dignity to which they supposed themselves exalted, as well as encouraged by the overflowings of the holy spirit, thought it Cromwell not only quieted them on this score, 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 triers of those that 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 cathedral churches, (Id ibid.) The Episcopaleans were merely tolerated. Burnet, ubi. sup. 36. Whitlocke. Clarendon. their duty to proceed to a thorough reformation, and to pave the way for the reign of the redeemer38. Meanwhile the Dutch ambassadors endeavoured to enter into a negociation with them. But although protestants, and even presbyte. rians, they met with a bad reception from senators who had pretensions to such superior sanctity; being regarded as worldly-minded men, intent only on commerce and indus, try, and whom it was befitting the saints should extirpate, before they undertook the subduing of Antichrist, the Man of Sin, and the extending of the Redeemer's kingdom to the uttermost corners of the earth39. The ambassadors, who were strangers to such wild doctrines, remained in astonishment, at finding themselves regarded as the enemies, not of England, but of Christ! Even Cromwell himself began to be ashamed of the pageant 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 sitting of such a parliament any longer would be of no service to the nation. They accordingly met sooner than usual, as had been concerted and along with Rouse, the speaker of the house of commons, repaired to Cromwell and his council of officers, declaring 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 Mayor in the chair, and were preparing to draw up protests, when they were interrupted by colonel 38. Parl. Hist. vol. xx. 39. Thurloe, vol. i. p. 273. 391. 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 ma66 ny years41." 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 He was name of king being still odious to their ears. 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 over all the three kingdoms, without the smallest opposition42, 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, nor 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; that the power of the sword should be invested in him jointly with the parlia ment while sitting, and during the intervals, jointly with the council of state; that he should summon the parliament every three years, and allow it to sit five months, without adjournment, prorogation or dissolution43. The council of state, named in the instrument, consisted of fifteen persons, strongly attached to the protector; who in case of a vacancy, had the power of choosing one out of three presented by the remaining members44. He had, therefore, 41. Parl. Hist. vol. xx. VOL. III. 3 N 42. Clarendon. Whitlocke. little |