CROMWELL, OLIVER Lord Protector of England, was the son of Robert Cromwell of Huntingdon and Elizabeth Steward. His father was the great-grandson of Mor gan Williams, who married the sister of Thomas Cromwell, the ruthless Minister of Henry VIII. Richard, the son of Morgan, acted as agent to Thomas Cromwell, and took his name. The son of Richard, Henry, inheriting the spoils of the abbey of Ramsey and the priory of Hinchinbrook near Huntingdon, by his splendid profusion earned the name of the Golden Knight, and his eldest son, Sir Oliver, by like extravagance, almost completed the dissipation of those fine properties. Robert, the younger brother, was of a serious character, and lived on his modest portion at Huntingdon. He is alleged to have been a brewer, but his main occupation was no doubt that of a gentleman farmer.
Oliver received his education at Huntingdon School under Dr. Beard, whose belief in the direct interposition of God for the pun ishment of the wicked may have influenced him throughout all his life. In 1616, Cromwell entered Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he would come again under puritanical influence; but in 1617, on the death of his father, he returned to Huntingdon, to take up, as the only surviving son, the care of his mother, his five sisters and the family affairs. He married in 162o Elizabeth Bourchier, the daughter of a city merchant, who survived him.
Save for this great event, what is known of his life between 1616 and 1628 is trivial. If he studied law, as is alleged, it was to little effect, for many years later he confessed haughtily that he knew as little of arithmetic as of law. There can be no doubt that he loved horses, as did his son Richard. He may have studied the art of war as set forth in the accounts of the practice of Gustavus, for military experts find him soon after his first appear ance in the field strangely skilled in war according to the best manner of the period. There is no doubt that at some time, or at many times, he suffered from religious depression and the sear ing conviction of sin. It may be inferred that he passed through that spiritual crisis known as conversion, for on his death-bed he drew hope from the recollection that at one time he had certainly • been in grace. There is evidence that he was forward in protecting his humbler neighbours against legal and other injustice. But the chief proof of his active, useful and respected life, is in his elec tion as member for Huntingdon to the Parliament of 1628. His family connections were many and widespread ; at Westminster he would meet his cousins, John Hampden and Oliver St. John. By their side he was introduced to religious and political contro versy on the larger scale. After the dissolution of that Parlia ment he disappears once more from the public view.
In 1 631 he sold his land near Huntingdon and moved to St. Ives, where his business was that of a grazier on hired land. In 1636 he succeeded to the estate of his maternal uncle, Sir Thomas Steward, and to his profits and activities as farmer of the Cathe dral tithe of Ely. Huntingdon, St. Ives, Ely, each is within an easy ride of Cambridge, such journeys were taken often, not only for private but for public affairs; important relations must have been formed somehow, for in 164o he was elected as burgess for Cambridge. A contemporary gives this sketch of his appear ance in the House :--"very ordinarily apparelled in a plain cloth suit made by a country tailor, his linen plain and not clean, his hat without a hat-band. His stature of a good size, his sword stuck close to his side, his countenance swollen and reddish, his voice sharp and untuneable, and his eloquence full of fervour, for the matter would not bear much of reason, . . . yet he was very much hearkened unto." Indeed, though no orator, he was active in the House from the first; he moved the second reading of the bill for Annual Parliaments (1640), and served on many corn mittees. He worked with St. John, Harry Vane, Arthur Hazelrigg and Edward Dering for the Root and Branch Bill—to destroy the power of the bishops and transfer it to commissioners to be named by Parliament. In Nov. 1641, he carried a motion appointing the Earl of Essex to command the train-bands of England, south of Trent, and in Jan. 1642, for a committee to put the kingdom " in a posture of defence." It is probable that his zeal for freedom of religion (as conceived by himself) was greater than his love of civic liberty ; on the other hand, he declared that, if the Grand Remonstrance had not been carried, he would have sold all and left the country; it is characteristic of the man that he was associated with the two first practical measures for mobilizing armed force against the King.
When Charles had left London (Jan. 1642) , when his Queen had left England, when Hotham, the Governor, had refused to admit his monarch within the walls of Hull, war was in sight. The 19 propositions of the Parliament sketched a new constitution for the kingdom which Charles could only accept under duress. On his rejection of those terms Parliament set up a Committee of Safety, and resolved to raise i o,000 men; Essex was made their General. The time for action had come. While one party was endeavouring to enforce the King's Commissions of array, and the other to carry out the ordinance of the Parliament for control of the train-bands, Cromwell was not inactive. He held Cam bridge and its resources against the King and for the Parliament ; he raised a troop of 6o horse and in August joined the army of Essex. We may assume that he chafed at the delays of his chief, who allowed the king to collect an army and only moved when the king started to march on London. At Edgehill where the forces met (Oct. 23, 1642) Cromwell was present, and his troop stood firm when others had fled. As a leader of cavalry he then learnt a lesson from the errors of Rupert, which served him well there after. He also formed the conviction that for this great cause troops must be found with a spirit which would carry them "as far as gentlemen would go ; such men as have the fear of God before them." And in Jan. 1643 he asked leave for himself and his men, betook himself to the Eastern Counties, where he was known, and began his work with the Eastern Association which had been shortly before founded by Ordinance of Parliament. Cambridge was its headquarters. By May 1643 he had 12 troops chosen and disciplined to his own high standard. With them he beat twice his own numbers at Grantham, "charging fiercely at a pretty round trot." After a short spell at Nottingham, where the force, assembled for the aid of the Fairfaxes in Yorkshire, was paralysed by treachery, Cromwell returned to the Eastern Association, now assailed by the Royalists, and collected a force for the relief of Gainsborough, where he won a noteworthy success (July 28, 1643). Confronted then with Newcastle's main army, he effected a masterly retreat to Lincoln, and prepared to levy a new force to be led by the Earl of Manchester. Thomas Fairfax shipped his horsemen from Hull and joined Cromwell; under Manchester, the two moved to recover Lincolnshire, and won the day at Winceby, where Cromwell's horse was killed under him. Lincoln and Gainsborough were recovered, and Ferdinando, Lord Fairfax of Cameron, by a sally, raised the siege of Hull. In Jan., 1644, Cromwell was appointed Lieut.-General for the Eastern Association, and in the following month he became a Member of the Committee of Both Kingdoms. He is reported to have had supreme influence with Manchester, and for a time he inspired his chief with his own vigour, and the army with his own disci pline and spirit.
In 1644 the Scots under Leslie crossed the border; in April the King's northern army under Newcastle was driven into York, where it was besieged by Leslie and the Fairfaxes. Waller and Essex were preparing to advance on Oxford, when the army of the Eastern Association took the field in Lincolnshire. In June Manchester joined the armies besieging York. Cromwell was then in command of 3,00o cavalry. But in June Rupert, marching east from Lancashire with a superior force, drew off the besieging armies to meet him, eluded them, and entered York. The Par liamentary armies, thus baffled, retreated southwards; Rupert followed, and forced an engagement at Marston Moor (July 2) . The honours of this victory fell to Cromwell, who commanded the cavalry on the left. Victorious after hard fighting over Rupert's horse, he returned to find the right wing of his own party routed and the centre broken, though Manchester's brigades of foot and the Scots were maintaining a valorous struggle. Taking the enemy in the rear, he defeated first the Royalist Horse on the enemy's left, and then turned to attack the infantry who were pressing the Scots back. The Scots and David Leslie deserve high credit, but the highest meed must fall to Cromwell. The three generals, Leven, Manchester and the elder Fairfax, had fled as from a com plete rout. In the result, of about i 8,000 men, Rupert re-assem bled about 6,000, and York, the prize at stake, surrendered a fortnight later. It was at this battle that Rupert gave the name of Ironsides to Cromwell's troops, which could not "be broken or divided." Meanwhile things had gone badly in the west. Charles had de feated Waller at Cropredy Bridge (June 29). He then followed Essex into Cornwall, while the army of the Eastern Association under Manchester lay idle at Lincoln ; the commander himself unwilling to push the war home ; Crawford and Cromwell es tranged by political and religious dissension. The force of Essex was destroyed, and when Charles moved towards Oxford, Man chester was reluctant to accept the order to march against him. "This army," he said, "cannot be commanded by the Parliament without the consent of the Association which raised it for its own defence." When the armies ultimately met at Newbury, the command on the side of the Parliament had been entrusted to a Committee. In consequence the attack was ill-planned (Oct. 27), and Charles was able to reach Oxford. Cromwell blamed Manchester as unwilling to push the attack against Charles to the extreme conclusion. Manchester replied in kind. The Scotch were ill-disposed to Cromwell, as he to the Presbyterian cause. The incident seemed about to lead to an alliance directed imme diately against Cromwell. Cromwell evaded rupture by urging reorganization of the army and a change in its commanders. In the result, the second Self-denying Ordinance was adopted in April, 1645, which required all members of either House holding office to lay down their commissions within 4o days, but did not exclude the possibility of re-appointment. Sir Thomas Fairfax was made general of the New Model army. Cromwell with his regiment was put under Waller, whom he readily accepted as his chief. His command was prolonged on May i o for another 4o days, and on June i o, at the urgent request of Fairfax, he was named as Lieut.-General.
The essence of the New Model army was a single command, corporate unity without regard to local interests, regular supply and regular pay for officers and men. The numbers were fixed at 22,000, with some supernumeraries, and impressment was ordered to complete this total. The necessary money was to be raised by monthly levies on the counties. The changes in the high command were important, but the changes in organization were equally important. It would appear that these great measures of reform were the work of Parliament actuated then by constructive com mon sense. The scheme accorded with Cromwell's ideas. He acted with discretion throughout. He refused to be drawn into a quarrel with Manchester. He refused to antagonize the Scots and their friends on the religious question. The thorny question of the Covenant was evaded. The Ordinance appeared at first sight to exclude Cromwell from command; it turned out to admit him as if by a deliberate manoeuvre. He cannot in his heart have been prepared to stand aside, but there is found no evidence of subtle in trigue on his own part. On this occasion, as on many others, the drive of circumstances and the potency of personality shaped events so as to push him to the front. As a passive waiter on the direction of Divine Providence, his attitude mitigated opposition and disarmed jealousy, leaving him ready to accept what presented itself as a duty.
The New Model army took some time to get into shape, and its action was hampered by orders from the Parliamentary committee. At length Fairfax was given a free hand to advance against the forces of Charles and Rupert which had recently taken and sacked Leicester. Just in time Cromwell joined up at Naseby with 600 horse and took command of the cavalry. The King's forces were less in numbers but their foot were veterans, while of the infantry on the side of Fairfax a large part were raw conscripts. The attack of the Royalist foot (June 14) was at first successful; and on the parliamentary left Rupert broke the Parliamentary horsemen under Ireton. But Cromwell, on the right, with his troopers drove all bef ore him, and then turned on the Royalist foot, who after a resolute defence were defeated and captured almost to a man. The Parliamentary army then formed up again and attacked the Royalist horse which had gathered once more; unsupported, they could not stand ; they fled and the pursuit continued for many miles. The King took refuge in Wales. A month later, Fairfax and Cromwell defeated Goring at Langport, and drove him into Bridgwater, which was taken by assault. A year was then spent in reducing cities, forts and isolated garrisons, until the war was terminated by the surrender of Oxford on June 24, 1646. King Charles took refuge with the Scots at Newark. His cause was greatly damaged by the discovery of his attempts to obtain aid from Lorraine, from France, from Denmark and from Ireland.
Up to this time Cromwell had shown a natural aptitude for war. Vigorous in action, rapid in decision, steadfast in self-control, firm in discipline, but master of the hearts of his men, what he had learnt by study he had perfected in the field, on the march and in the camp. When things looked hopeless, in April 1647, he seriously thought of accepting service abroad under the Elector Palatine. Two things kept him at home : his zeal for freedom of belief, within his own arbitrary limits—and his devotion to the army with which he had served. These two master motives forced him into politics. The Parliament, having abolished Episcopacy and sequestrated the lands of the Church, seemed about to force upon the nation another religious tyranny—a Presbyterian rule in religion—a religion formulated by Parliament. During the year following the surrender of Oxford, first the Scots had endeavoured to persuade the King—their guest or prisoner—to accept their own Presbyterian system. When they had failed with Charles, they made terms with the Parliament for their arrears of pay, handed over the King, and retired to their own country (Jan. 3o, 1647). Charles was taken in custody to Holmby in Northants. Parliament thought that an agreement with the King on a basis of Presbyterianism and the control of the armed forces of the na tion was in sight ; they accordingly proposed to disband a great part of the army without security for their arrears of pay, and to send 12,000 of the remainder to Ireland. The army elected "agi tators" to focus their resistance; and Cromwell, Skippon, Ireton and Fleetwood were sent by the Parliament to headquarters at Saffron Walden, to deal with the malcontents. Cromwell dis charged his duty faithfully, attempted to pacify the soldiers, and laid their case before Parliament ; but disbandment without satis faction was ordered for June 1. The army refused to disband; and Cromwell joined the army. On the same day the King was seized at Holmby, and passed into the custody of the army.
The army forthwith organized itself. A Council was set up to represent the army in political matters :—the general officers with four representatives from each regiment. In military matters the general and his council of war were to be supreme. Order and discipline were soon restored. The army then advanced towards London. Toleration was demanded and proposals were made for a new Parliament to be elected on a more equitable scheme of constituencies and representation. Under this pressure Parlia ment rescinded its orders for disbandment, discharged the soldiers enlisted to resist the army and restored the old committee for the Militia of London which had been displaced by Presbyterians; but the London mob took charge, and forced the repeal of these orders and the issue of an invitation to the King to come to London. A number of the legislators took refuge with the army, which advanced towards London to "restore the liberty of Par liament." A regiment of cavalry in Hyde Park persuaded Parlia ment to return to their last position but one. The most ardent Presbyterians took refuge on the continent.
Cromwell, on behalf of the army, now undertook to negotiate with the King. The "Proposals" made to him were more lenient to the Royalists than those of the Parliament. But they involved the reservation to the Parliament for ten years of the control of the militia and the appointment of officers of State, and the limitation of the royal power by a co-ordinate Council of State. They excluded control, Episcopal or Presbyterian, of religious opinion. In details the Council of the Army showed itself con ciliatory; but, whatever amendments might be allowed, the King saw his power in the Church annulled, and his power in the State curtailed. He thought he could do better by playing off the army against the Parliament. On the other hand the firebrands of the army thought Cromwell and Ireton too indulgent. The "Agreement of the People" was put forward in Oct. 1627, demand ing a new parliament, new constituencies, manhood suffrage, tri ennial Parliaments, government by Parliament under certain res ervations (stated but without sanction or guarantee), and with out any mention of the King. This Cromwell and his friends were strong enough to put aside. It was Cromwell who then laid down that in judging any new political scheme the first thing to be considered was, "whether the spirit and temper of the people are prepared to go along with it." On this ground he judged mon archy best; though not a politician, he had sound political sense. The King had a third party to which he could turn—the Scots. To gain greater freedom in negotiation he escaped from Hampton Court to Carisbrooke Castle in the Isle of Wight (Nov. 1647)• Charles counted on the dangerous divisions in the army ; these were, however, repressed by Cromwell's courage and firmness. But on Dec. 27 Charles made his treaty with the Scots and rejected the terms of the Parliament, in the vain hope that he would be able to escape to the continent and bring aid thence to his Scottish allies. In Jan. 1648, the Parliament voted to break off all dealings with Charles : in their action Cromwell concurred. Soon afterwards the Second Civil War broke out.
The rising began in Wales. In the north the Royalists, pre paring for the army promised by the Scots, seized Berwick and Carlisle. In May, 1648, Cromwell left London for Wales: Pem broke Castle held out for six weeks, till it was starved into sub mission (July I I) . Three days earlier the Scots under Hamilton had crossed the border. The Royalists had risen in Kent and Essex, and the fleet in the Downs had declared for the King. Fairfax dealt with these risings and laid siege to Colchester. In the north Lambert had to give way before the Scots, who moved forward slowly. Cromwell sent part of his force to the aid of Lambert and followed himself with the remainder. They joined forces in the West Riding on August 12. Here he learnt that Hamilton was marching south towards Preston ; he marched west "choosing to put ourselves between their army and Scotland." He caught Hamilton with his forces divided. Cromwell destroyed Langdale's division and Hamilton's rearguard, occupied Preston, and set out in pursuit of Hamilton's main force. He followed them almost to Warrington, where there was some hard fighting: the main part of the army were prisoners by August 2o; the rest surrendered in detail or escaped in disguise. When Colchester surrendered on August 27, the Second Civil War was in effect concluded.
But there was still work to be done. Cromwell marched into Scotland, and aided by a rising in the west made terms with the duke of Argyll and his partisans which protected England for a time against interference. Meanwhile Parliament had been treat ing with the King; and preliminaries were agreed on at Newport on Sept. 18. The army feared that peace thus made would put the Presbyterians in power and lead to the dismissal of the sol diers without payment of arrears or indemnity for their acts while under arms. On Nov. 20 the army in the south presented to Parliament a Remonstrance drawn up by Ireton, demanding inter alia that the King be "brought to justice for the treason, blood and mischief he is guilty of." The Parliament continued to treat, and action was taken. The King was removed by orders of Fair fax from Newport to Hurst. The officers in London allied them selves with the Independent minority in Parliament to drive out the Presbyterian majority. This was effected on Dec. 6 and 7 (Pride's Purge). Cromwell took his seat with the minority.
The assembly thus constituted had no semblance of legality. It was what is called in revolutionary cant a provisional govern ment. The Council of the Army was another such provisional government. Cromwell was a member of both bodies and the strongest personality in each. He cannot escape the fullest re sponsibility for the act which followed. Yet it seems certain that he struggled long against the ultimate decision, and there is no reason to question the sincerity of his doubts. At last he could see no way except that which was taken. Nowadays the execution of the King might be defended on the ground that the safety of the people is a supreme interest above all law. If Crom well justified the act by saying that the Providence of God had cast it upon him, that was the manner of thought which he had learnt from the Old Testament. The mutilated House of Com mons, ignoring the House of Lords, appointed an arbitrary tribunal to judge the King, of which not half the members ac cepted the charge laid upon them. The conclusion was inevitable : no plea of law or right or fact could avail; Charles went to his death on Jan. 30, 1649.
After his death, such House of Commons as remained passed laws abolishing the House of Lords, abolishing the monarchy, and establishing a "Commonwealth or Free State," a Republic, with which Cromwell later dealt as he had with his King accord ing to the law of necessity. But first he had tasks to perform which were more congenial to his nature and his gifts. For the moment he was a member of the Council of State created by the purged Par liament. Many tasks were taken in hand, which had hitherto been perforce neglected ; in these activities his influence, where not cer tain, may be surmised. The navy was reorganized and re-equipped. Discontent and anarchical propaganda were rife in the army and demanded severe measures of repression. Though his faith and wisdom were needed for these and other duties, the Council of State was a competent body and for a time could manage home affairs. Where war was needed, Cromwell had no rival, or plau sible substitute. The case of Ireland was the most pressing. The rebellion of 1641 had been exacerbated by the measures of the Parliament, which proscribed the Popish religion and offered two and a half million acres of Irish land to adventurers, as a means of raising funds for the reconquest. With the turmoil and con fused intrigue that followed this biography is not concerned— until the time in 1647 when Ormonde, Lord Lieutenant for the King, surrendered Dublin to the Parliament. The reconquest of the island was then planned, but postponed owing to the Second Civil War; of ter this war Ormonde returned and formed a con siderable party of Catholics and Anglo-Irish against the Parlia ment. The prince of Wales was invited to take the lead. Rupert appeared at Kinsale with his ships. The Republican force in Ireland was confined to Dublin, Drogheda and Derry. The situa tion was critical, and on March 30, 1649, Cromwell accepted the command of an army of reconquest.
Ormonde had at first considerable success, capturing Drog heda and other strongholds, but on Aug. 2 Michael Jones, com mander at Dublin, routed him at Rathmines, and when Cromwell landed at Dublin (Aug. 13) there was no longer an opposing army in the field. The best of Ormonde's troops were in Drogheda; thither Cromwell led his men and stormed the town, putting all its defenders and all Catholic priests to the sword. A few days later Wexford shared the same fate. By the end of the year the coast from Londonderry to Cape Clear was in Cromwell's hands, excepting Waterford; but not much beyond the coast. In Janu ary his recall was voted to face the threat of a Scottish invasion; but he did not leave till May. Just before his departure he suf fered a severe repulse in an assault on Clonmel—though the place came into his hands by the subsequent retirement of the garrison. The Irish expedition adds little to Cromwell's military fame. The ignorance of Irish history displayed in his public utterances is colossal. Claiming to be a judge "to ask an account of the innocent blood" shed in 1641, he lost all sense of justice through religious rancour; and the "righteous judgment" of which he spoke fell upon those who had no part in the original crimes.
The conquest of Ireland was completed in 1652 by his succes sors in command. The Cromwellian Settlement—as it is called and rightly called, for he approved its principles—was not com pleted until 1658. The means of the settlement were the trans fer to new owners of the property in land over two-thirds of Ireland; the aim was the conversion of Ireland from a Catholic to a Protestant country; the method was called the impartial administration of justice. The Instrument of Government gave to the Irish representation in parliament, but the representatives were so chosen as to represent, not the Irish, but the English in Ireland. It may be conceded that Cromwell used his influence to mitigate for Ireland the burdens of taxation. For the last three years of Cromwell's life, his son, Henry, was acting as governor in the island ; under his rule, some order began to emerge from chaos.
The execution of a Scottish King had touched the Scots on the point of national pride. On hearing the news, they at once pro claimed Charles II. king, not only of Scotland, but of Great Brit ain and Ireland. His first plan was to use Ireland as a starting point; but first the confusion of parties in Ireland, and after wards the blows of Cromwell, closed to him this field of action. He landed in Scotland on June 23, 165o, having accepted the Scotch terms. They were that he should impose Presbyterianism on England and Ireland, take the oath to both Covenants, and disavow both Ormonde and Montrose. Cromwell urged on the Council of State that they should forestall the Scots by invading Scotland. Fairfax declined to take any part in such action, and Cromwell was made Captain General and Commander-in-Chief. He entered Scotland at the end of July, and was confronted by David Leslie with an army superior in numbers but inferior in quality. He failed to force Leslie to accept battle. A month so passed, until Cromwell found himself with his, back to the sea at Dunbar, with the Scots commanding the road to Berwick. In order to prevent the escape of his enemy by sea, Leslie came down from the hills on Sept. 2. Cromwell's force was much re duced by sickness, and in numbers was half that of the Scotch. But he saw his opportunity and planned his attack with Lambert for the dawn of Sept. 3. Feinting an attack on the Scotch left, he threw the whole of his main strength on their right and centre. When the Scottish right wing had been broken, their centre was rolled up between the hills and a ravine which blocked their left. Three thousand Scots were killed, and ten thousand prison ers were taken. This battle was a masterpiece of tactics, resolutely carried out, with full advantage taken of the ground.
Leslie retired with the remnants of his force to Stirling, while Cromwell occupied Edinburgh and Leith. Lambert was sent against the extreme covenanters in the west. Charles was crowned at Scone on Jan. I, 165 i . Cromwell fell ill, and when at length in July he was able to take the field again, he failed to bring Leslie into action where he lay before Stirling. Accordingly he deter mined to turn his position, risking or inviting an invasion of Eng land. On August 2 he occupied Perth, having passed through Fife. Here he learnt that the whole Scottish army had started on their march south. Cromwell left Monk, with 6,000 men, to hold Scot land, sent his cavalry under Lambert and Harrison to follow the King, the one in the rear, the other on the flank, and himself marched through Yorkshire, as he went, collecting bodies of the English militia. On Aug. a a Charles reached Worcester. Mean while Cromwell had joined forces with Lambert and Harrison and lay at Evesham. Making good use of his superior strength, he sent Lambert and Fleetwood across the Severn to block the re treat into Wales. Himself he advanced from the south-east towards the city, threatening it on the south and on the east. On Sept. 3, the day of action, Fleetwood advanced to the Teme and engaged the army. Cromwell crossed the Severn by a bridge of boats and took Fleetwood's opponents in flank. This enabled Fleetwood to cross the Teme, and the combined forces "beat the Scots into" Worcester. Charles made a sally on the east against the forces left by Cromwell. Thereupon Cromwell again crossed the Severn and completed his victory. The Scottish foot laid down its arms; the horse retreated towards Scotland, but were hunted down by the local militia and the country folk. No or ganized body of troops reached Scotland. This campaign shows a high mastery of great strategical movements. All Cromwell's forces were collected at the critical time and place; the intelli gence must have been good, and the supply well managed; and in the battle itself the difficulties of the ground were made to help rather than to impede the concerted action of the whole army. Charles escaped as is well known; but there was no more fighting in England while Cromwell lived, Monk completed the conquest of Scotland, and in 1654 the last efforts at resistance were crushed.
On Sept. 12, 1651, Cromwell entered London in triumph. Par liament voted to him a revenue of £4,00o a year, and gave him Hampton Court for his residence. His position was that of Cap tain-General of the Army, a member of the Council of State and a member of such parliament as there was. He entered now on one of those periods when, as we might say, he waited to be con vinced by the logic of events that certain action was necessary, or, as he would himself say and believe, to be "put by the Lord on the doing" of certain work. He was anxious that the Par liament should "period" themselves, i.e., that they should fix a date for the termination of their power by a new election. All the members were loth to resign their power ; many clung to the ille gitimate profit, patronage and influence, which their position put within their reach. He was anxious that an act of indemnity should be framed for the war-like acts done in the course of the rebellion; such an act of oblivion was passed in February 1652, but, in his opinion, it was unduly limited. He desired a settlement of the Church with due regard to the liberty of conscience. The Par liament offered him a scheme fettered by 15 fundamental prin ciples. They drifted into war with the Dutch, not so much be cause of the Navigation Act passed by them in 165 r, as because of disputes arising out of their claim to the right of search French goods in Dutch vessels. This war was distasteful to Crom well, whose mind dwelt on joint action with Protestant princes on the Continent for the restoration and maintenance of freedom of conscience. To meet the necessary expenses of army and navy the Parliament resorted once more to the oppressive and im politic expedient of confiscating the estates of alleged "malig nants." They put the crown on their offences and omissions by hurrying forward a bill for a "New Representative" which would leave the sitting members unchallenged in their seats and the judges of the fitness of any new members who might be chosen. The bill was on the point of passage, when on April 20, 1653, Cromwell drove them from the judgment seat. He followed up this action by dispersing the Council of State, whose authority was dependent on that of the disbanded Parliament.
The only established authority left was that of the Captain General, under whom a temporary Council of State dealt with the current business. In the hope of securing an assembly of "men fearing God and hating covetousness" he called upon the Congregational churches all over the kingdom to nominate suit able persons. From the list thus supplied, the Council of officers chose 140, including five to represent Scotland, and six to repre sent Ireland. This body went hopefully and prayerfully to work. It constituted itself a Parliament, and nominated a working Gov ernment. It undertook to reform the law and reform the Church. It impeded peace with the Dutch, which Cromwell desired. Its doctrinaire attitude encouraged the extremists and the fanatics. Finally the assembly came to hopeless disagreement over the re constitution of the Church. Under some influence—not, it would seem, that of Cromwell—a majority decided to resign their powers into the hands of the Captain-General. "My power," as he said later, "was again by this resignation as boundless and unlimited as before." (See BAREBONE'S PARLIAMENT.
A scheme had already been put forward by the officers of the army, called the Instrument of Government. This scheme put the executive power in the hands of a Protector and a Council of State, nominated for life. A fixed revenue was assigned to the Government. Legislation was to be by a Parliament to be sum moned not less than once in three years, and to sit when sum moned for not less than five months. The Protector was to have the appointment of all magistrates, and the command of the forces by sea and land. Only for some of the very highest offices was the assent of Parliament required, or, if Parliament was not sitting, then that of the Council. For all foreign policy the Pro tector with his Council were made responsible. A ministry was to be established, but liberty of conscience was given to all Chris tians except papists and prelatists. In the absence of Parliament, the Protector was empowered to make Ordinances with the con sent of the Council. In its original form this scheme gave the name of King to the head of the State ; the term Protector was adopted to meet Cromwell's doubts or scruples. After the failure of the Little Parliament, Cromwell accepted the Instrument, and was solemnly installed as Protector on Dec. 16, 1653, in the sig nificant black coat of a civilian. The document itself had no au thority except that of the heads of the army and the acceptance of the Captain-General. Its validity rested on the logic of facts, but its construction shows practical wisdom. Its chief provisions stood the test of experience during Oliver's lifetime.
It has been said that the events of r 64o to i 66o proved that the King could not govern this country without a Parliament and that the Parliament could not govern without a King. Cromwell's experience under the Instrument of Government supports both theses. His own position as a quasi-king preserved the experiment from complete failure ; his actions proved his sincere desire to work in concert with some kind of parliament. But he was not invested with the magic of kingship; those who obeyed his orders had not the legal protection given by statute to those whose acts were covered by the commands of a de facto king; and the par liaments which he could bring together lacked the valid title of a royal summons. Owing to the restrictions on free election necessi tated by the political situation, Parliament could not claim the full support of the people ; and the traditions of the Long Parliament did not encourage harmonious working between Parliament and Protector. It is probable, indeed, that the Protector himself was not well-fitted to work in with popular institutions.
Under the Instrument, Cromwell with his Council had authority to issue Ordinances having the effect of law when parliament was not sitting. Thus from Dec. 1653 until Sept. 1654, there was an opportunity of clearing many difficulties out of the way. Peace was made with Holland in April i 654. The union of the three kingdoms was enacted and provision made for the government of Scotland and Ireland. The attempt to reform the law, civil and criminal, cannot be regarded as successful. Cromwell had not the lucid and logical mind of a Napoleon; the mentality of the English lawyers did not lead them to favour his projects of re form or to assist in their realization. The reform of the ministry was more after his heart. It was tolerant within the limits of the time. A body of "Triers" was appointed to examine the fitness of candidates for livings: without their certificate none was in future to be admitted to a benefice. Presbyterians, Independents and Baptists were eligible as Triers, and from the point of view of doctrine members of any of these sects were acceptable. Grace and godly conversation were the main titles to acceptance. An other body was appointed to weed out the unworthy incumbents. Liberty of worship was allowed to all who "do profess faith in Jesus Christ," excepting papists and prelatists. In practice, the prelatists were little molested, except when the Royalists were active in conspiracy. Cromwell would willingly have extended some indulgence to the Catholics, but the public opinion of the country was too strong for him. Such favour as he showed to Jews and Quakers was in advance of his age, and could not be too openly manifested. He refused to abolish tithe, and recognized the rights of patrons, subject to the review of the Triers. He encouraged and protected the universities, and fostered and su pervised the maintenance of schools. By temperament a religious fanatic, in an age of religious war, tired out himself in the bitter est religious strife, he yet made no war upon opinions but on the harmful acts to which opinions led.
When Cromwell became Protector, he was master of a pow erful standing army. He had a stronger fleet than any English ruler before him. That fleet had been first built up to deal with the remains of the Royalist navy led by Rupert. It had driven Rupert to the Mediterranean, it had pursued him thither and destroyed his power. It had recaptured the Scilly Islands, Jersey and Guernsey, from other Royalist freebooters ; it had reduced Barbados and the West Indian islands and received the submis sion of Virginia and Maryland. In 1652 there was in effect between England and France a state of war. Since 1652 there had been war with the Dutch, in which the English had more and more the advantage. At the end of 1652 the French king announced the recognition of the British Commonwealth ; but mutual seizure of merchant vessels did not cease. After peace had been made with the Dutch in April'1654, the situation was still difficult. Cromwell settled his disputes with Denmark and Portugal, and concluded an alliance with Sweden. He hoped to form a league of Protestant Powers to further religious freedom in Central Europe. But meanwhile he received tempting offers both from France and Spain, who were then at war. Another man might have planned to win popularity by maintaining peace, reducing forces and re mitting taxes. But Cromwell was a man of war and had a pow erful instrument ready to his hand. The God in whose direct guidance he had faith was a God of battles, by whom power was given that thereby the truth might be spread. Spain was identified in his mind with the extremest school of papistical fanaticism. Yet he played with the idea that by the support of Spain he might win advantages for the Huguenots in France. He also tried to obtain from France recognition of his right to in tervene in favour of the Huguenots if their liberties were in fringed. Obtaining no satisfaction from either side, he attacked the Spanish colonies in the west .without ceasing to capture French ships. Meanwhile Blake in the Mediterranean displayed his country's power, bombarded the castles of the Dey of Tunis, and burnt his ships. When, in 1655, news came of the massacre of the Vaudois by the troops of Savoy, he offered to France his alliance in return for her good offices on behalf of the victims. Spain de clared war in consequence of the Protector's attacks on the West Indies; and the treaty with France was concluded (Oct. 24, 1655). The war with Spain was vigorously conducted. Treasure ships were captured or sunk, and Jamaica was occupied. In 1657 Cromwell agreed to join with France in an attack on Spain in Flanders. Mardyke was taken on October 3, 1657, and handed over to Great Britain. In June of the following year the English played a prominent part under Turenne in the Battle of the Dunes. The capture of Dunkirk followed, and Charles's hopes of invading Britain with Spanish help were shattered.
Meanwhile Cromwell was pursuing his plans for furthering the Protestant cause in Central Europe. But he entirely miscalculated the situation. Gustavus of Sweden, whose cause he espoused, was as ready to swallow up Protestant Denmark as Catholic Poland. Protestant Brandenburg saw in Gustavus a rival, an enemy, rather than a friend. The Dutch were more interested in their own com merce than in the propagation of the faith. In truth, the spirited foreign policy of Cromwell was inspired by ignorance and inex perience. The friendship of France was dependent on the needs of the moment ; once those needs had been served she was not likely long to endure an English foothold on the southern shore of the Channel. Meanwhile, the expense of all this activity increased the financial difficulties in which the Protectorate was involved.
Cromwell's colonial adventures had little more substantial suc cess. The disastrous attempt to conquer Hispaniola was not com pensated by the possession of Jamaica until many years had passed. But action in this district was harmonious with the destiny of Britain as afterwards worked out, while the subsequent sale of Dunkirk was more profitable than its possession could ever have been, and the engagements contemplated in Central Europe would have been perilous if they had not proved ineffectual. Neither Cromwell nor his advisers, it must be remembered, had any traditional knowledge of the art and practice of international politics. Yet even his enemies admitted that England under the Protector was feared and respected in Europe as she had not been since the time of Henry V. Though Oliver ran some risks and entertained some projects that a more experienced ruler would have avoided, yet in action he never hazarded more than he could afford and seldom lost his stake—except perhaps at Hispaniola. Cromwell entered upon his public career as a champion of the Parliament against the King. Yet from 1647 onwards he was in constant conflict with parliament when there was any parliament to dispute with. Pride's Purge may not have been his work, but he certainly accepted its result, and he acknowledged the author ity of the purged remnant. The relations of the Protector with parliament have a permanent as well as a passing interest. This was the age when the prestige of parliament was established, and its evolution as a sovereign body was well begun before the Restoration.
Cromwell drew all the legal authority that he had from the parliament which constituted him Captain-General. The Army itself, on which his power was founded, was the creation of par liament. Although he might expel parliaments, nominate them, reform them, summon them, pack them, hector them, dissolve them, he felt in his heart, and rightly felt, that through parlia ment alone could a stable and peaceful settlement be reached. That he could not reach it by this means proves in him the lack, which is otherwise patent, of supreme political art. But the task of guiding an inexperienced assembly, inflamed by recent conflict, exalted by success and torn into tatters by religious dissension, religious fever, religious hatred, was, perhaps, beyond the wit of man. His own "Independent" views on religion had their anarchical repercussion in politics; if authority be denied in re ligion, where can its true basis be found? His advisers who wished him to assume the kingship, his own instinct that impelled him that way, were right in so far as parliament was concerned. The magic and the mystery of a king. were sorely needed : they van ished when the Head of the State came down into the arena as a partisan. He needed Ministers—as a screen and as a veil—to fight his parliamentary conflicts, to exercise on his behalf par liamentary persuasion, to carry through parliamentary negotia tions and consolidate a party in the House. It must be admitted that his parliaments, even with such expert assistance, would not have been easy either to pull or to push.
The "Barebone's" Parliament, the Parliament of Saints, was ridiculous from its birth (1653), and departed unhonoured and unregretted. The first Parliament of the Protectorate spent its time in digging under its own foundations. It drew from Cromwell an interesting declaration of the fundamental principles of the Constitution necessary for their joint work. Government must be by a single person and parliament : the con trol of the armed forces must be divided between Protector and parliament ; parliaments must not have the power to perpetuate their own term of authority : they must not interfere with the liberty of conscience. Since the parliament declined to observe these restrictions—especially the liberty of belief—and to make adequate provision for the army, it was dismissed after 20 weeks. The Instrument said five months ; by reckoning in lunar months the Protector saved himself from 13 bad days.
The year 1655 was a troubled year—with plots of Royalists and plots of fanatics ; it became necessary to shut up no less a man than Major-General Harrison. Fortunately Cromwell's secret service, of which Thurloe was the organizer, was very efficient. In spite of these troubles Cromwell was able to reduce the stand ing force. In compensation he set up a military police organized in 12 districts, each under a Major-General, to forestall con spiracy, and watch over public morals. The standing militia of 6,000 men, which was put at the disposal of these Governors, was paid for by levies of ten per cent on the revenues of the Royalist country gentlemen. Thus the policy of reconciliation was for the time abandoned. In addressing Parliament in 1654, Oliver had claimed that the sheriffs, the justices of the peace and the other local officers, had accepted his authority, and that the judges had taken new commissions from his hand. Now the lawyers and the judges began to show scruples ; there were resignations, and resistance ; more accommodating judges were found ; inconvenient counsel were punished. "I am as much for government by con sent as any man," said Cromwell, "but where shall we find that consent?" Failing consent, what remedy but force? In 1656 Cromwell called another Parliament. It was thought necessary to exclude ioo of the elected members. Even by the vote of the submissive remainder, the Major-Generals and the "decimation" by which they were maintained were condemned. At length, in March 1657, by a majority of two to one, a new draft constitution—the Humble Petition and Advice—was passed and presented to the Protector. Cromwell was to take the title of King, and to name his successor. The members of the Council and the chief officers of State were to be nominated by him, sub ject to the consent of parliament. There was to be a Second Chamber, its members to be nominated by the Protector and ap proved by the Commons. There was to be a permanent revenue, with a special vote for three years to cover the cost of the war. Elections to parliament were to be controlled by parliament itself and not by the Protector or his council. After some weeks' hesita tion, Cromwell accepted the constitution, but under pressure from his most trusted officers he declined the "title of king." Crom well desired the kingship for the greater security of the settlement which it offered. The lawyers desired a king for the legal and constitutional implications attached to the name. The conjec ture may be hazarded that the soldiers disliked it because the lawyers and civilians desired it ; he was their Cromwell, and they were not willing to share him with the civilians. But no doubt in some of the soldiers republican sentiment was strong. As Cromwell did not live long, the decision was not so important as it appeared. In January 1658 parliament met again. The situation was not im proved. About 4o of Cromwell's chief supporters had been called to the Upper House. The fire-brands excluded in 1657 had now to be admitted. The Commons at once began to challenge the con stitution, and especially the position of the "other House." Feel ing began to rise outside the House, and after a fortnight Crom well sent his last parliament about their business.
During his last year he was at the culmination of his power and his glory. The Battle of the Dunes was fought on June 4, 1658, and peace with Spain was now in sight. Sir Charles Firth says that "the history of the Protectorate is the history of the gradual emancipation of the Protector from the political control of the army." The most difficult of the officers had been gradu ally eliminated. The fanatics had been purged out of the ranks. The army had become professional. The military opposition to the assumption of the kingship in 1657 was perhaps the last kick. Finance was embarrassing, the floating deficit was great ; but with peace the deficit might be reduced. The heavy and unjust taxa tion was a greater danger. If Cromwell had lived to meet the parliament which he had summoned for December in the year of his death, he might perhaps have been able to reduce the ex penditure and make a more equitable distribution of burdens. If all the circumstances be taken into account, his financial admin istration deserves praise rather than blame. But he was already aging: though not yet S9, he had lived a hard life, and had been weakened by serious illnesses. His later handwriting shows clear signs of the shock of years and toil. Had he lived longer it is doubtful whether he could have had the strength to achieve a peaceful settlement. On the magic date of Dunbar and Worces ter, September 3, at the height of his renown, he died (1658). The frame of his constructive work was swept away, but the im press of his deeds and personality has helped to shape the life of his nation through the succeeding centuries.
The outward history of Cromwell gives the true measure of the man as a fighting and governing force. On the moral side, from the days of the Restoration until the 19th century the verdict of Clarendon was generally accepted—"a brave, bad man, with all the wickedness for which hell fire is prepared." Yet Clarendon relents in a measure—"he had some virtues which have caused the memory of some men in all ages to be celebrated." In the first half of the last century W. S. Landor and John Forster agreed that he "lived a hypocrite and died a traitor." Carlyle by his publication of the Life and Letters in 1845 did a service to history—though he somewhat prejudices the cause of his hero by his smoky rhapsodies. The charge of hypocrisy, when not in spired by party passion, arose from a misapprehension. Crom well lived in an age when religion had been inflamed to white heat by the revolt against the Church of Rome. Authority had been shaken or thrown down; the right of private judgment was set in its place. Cromwell, like others, believed without qualifica tion that the Old Testament, as well as the New Testament, was the authentic word of God. It would have been blasphemy in his eyes to call in question the morality of the Old Testament or the mental attitude of the belligerent Psalms. He believed that the truth of God could be reached by any man who would faith fully and prayerfully study the word of God. He needed no philo sophic dogma to reconcile divergent interpretations. Every man must painfully and sincerely seek; and what is revealed to each comes from God and is truth for him : on that he must act. He believed in the immediate government of the fortunes of men by God. If the virtuous and the faithful suffered misfortune it was a trial for their good, or perhaps a fatherly chastisement for their want of faith, their weakness and their shortcomings. If they were successful in their undertakings it was a direct sign of the favour of the Almighty. If they were in doubt as to the course that it was right to follow, they must seek the Lord with prayer and humility until the path was shown to them from on high. Thus it happened that over and over again when Cromwell was in inward doubt he would speak obscurely, gropingly, this way and that, as though endeavouring to mask his purpose : in truth the purpose had not been formed. When he had reached decision his utterance was plain enough : when prompt action was needed, he was such that decision came to him as a flash : it might well seem to be a flash straight from the God whom he worshipped. His career is to all of us marvellous ; to him it might well seem miraculous. He did not look for explanation in the recesses of his unexplored mentality or in any star or luck. He believed that his whole course was directed by God, and that his deeds and in spirations were crowning mercies of the Most High. The lan guage of the Scripture, which was the only literary language he knew well, came to his lips more easily than any other. Thus, what in others might have been hypocrisy was in him the expression of complete faith in the language of faith. That he was in himself a good man is shown in this : that, although highly tried as a revo lutionary leader, he has few crimes to his score ; he was not greedy, or lustful, or cruel, nor unmerciful—save only, as in Ire land, where his fanatic zeal overmastered his humane qualities. His last biographer, Sir John Fortescue, says : "It is from Crom well that we derive the origin of our military discipline and especially the great tradition that an army marching through a country must take nothing without payment." In his private life he was a good son, husband and father; he could be cheerful, jovial and merry; he was no ascetic: he was a lover of music. The words of Clarendon--"he possessed a wonderful understand ing in the natures and humour of men" explain a great part of his success. (S. Ls.) BIBLIOGRAPHY.--A detailed bibliography will be found in the article Bibliography.--A detailed bibliography will be found in the article by C. H. Firth (1888) in the Dict. of Nat. Biography. See also, S. R. Gardiner, History of England (1883-84) , History of the Great Civil War (1886) , Cromwell's Place in History (1897) , Oliver Cromwell (1901) and History of the Commonwealth and Protectorate 1903) ; C. H. Firth, Cromwell (1900) , and The Last Years of the Protectorate, 1656-1658 (1909) ; F. Harrison, Oliver Cromwell (1903) ; T. Carlyle, Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell, ed. S. C. Lomas, with introd. by C. H. Firth (the best edition, rejecting the spurious Squire papers, 1904) ; Francois Guizot, Histoire de la Republique d'Angleterre et de Cromwell (1854, trans., A. R. Scoble, 1855) ; T. Roosevelt, Oliver Cromwell (1900) ; R. Pauli, Oliver Cromwell (trans., 1888) ; Cromwell, a speech delivered by Lord Rosebery at the Crom well Tercentenary Celebration, 1899 (1900) ; W. Michaeli, Cromwell (Berlin, 1907) ; R. Tangye, The Two Protectors, illust. Freiherr v. Bischofshausen, Die Politik des Protectors Oliver Crom well in der Auffassung and Tatigkeit . . . des Staatssekretdrs John Thurloe (1899) ; T. S. Baldock, Cromwell as a Soldier (1899) ; C. H. Firth, Cromwell's Army (1902) ; G. Jones, The Diplomatic Relations between Cromwell and Char,'es X. of Sweden (1897) ; F. A. Inderwick, The Interregnum, dealing with the legal aspects of Cromwell's rule (1891) ; M. Oppenheim, Administration of the Royal Navy (1896) ; W. Shaw, History of the English Church during the Civil Wars (1900) ; J. N. Bowman, The Protestant Interest in Cromwell's Foreign Relations (1900) ; Sir John Fortescue, Six British Soldiers (1928) ; W. E. Abbott, Bibliography of Oliver Cromwell (1929).