Cromwell is described as a man who was an impostor all his life. I can scarcely believe it. I conceive that he was first an enthusiast1, and that he afterwards made his fanaticism3 instrumental to his greatness. An ardent4 novice5 at twenty often becomes an accomplished6 rogue7 at forty. In the great game of human life, men begin with being dupes, and end in becoming knaves9. A statesman engages as his almoner a monk10, entirely11 made up of the details of his convent, devout12, credulous13, awkward, perfectly14 new to the world; he acquires information, polish, finesse15, and supplants16 his master.
Cromwell knew not, at first, whether he should become a churchman or a soldier. He partly became both. In 1622 he made a campaign in the army of the prince of Orange, Frederick Henry, a great man and the brother of two great men; and, on his return to England, engaged in the service of Bishop17 Williams, and was the chaplain of his lordship, while the bishop passed for his wife’s gallant18. His principles were puritanical19, which led him to cordially hate a bishop, and not to be partial to kingship. He was dismissed from the family of Bishop Williams because he was a Puritan; and thence the origin of his fortune. The English Parliament declared against monarchy21 and against episcopacy; some friends whom he had in that parliament procured22 him a country living. He might be said only now to have commenced his existence; he was more than forty before he acquired any distinction. He was master of the sacred Scriptures23, disputed on the authority of priests and deacons, wrote some bad sermons, and some lampoons24; but he was unknown. I have seen one of his sermons, which is insipid25 enough, and pretty much resembles the holdings forth26 of the Quakers; it is impossible to discover in it any trace of that power by which he afterwards swayed parliaments. The truth is, he was better fitted for the State than for the Church. It was principally in his tone and in his air that his eloquence27 consisted. An inclination28 of that hand which had gained so many battles, and killed so many royalists, was more persuasive29 than the periods of Cicero. It must be acknowledged that it was his incomparable valor30 that brought him into notice, and which conducted him gradually to the summit of greatness.
He commenced by throwing himself, as a volunteer and a soldier of fortune, into the town of Hull31, besieged32 by the king. He there performed some brilliant and valuable services, for which he received a gratuity33 of about six thousand francs from the parliament. The present, bestowed34 by parliament upon an adventurer, made it clear that the rebel party must prevail. The king could not give to his general officers what the parliament gave to volunteers. With money and fanaticism, everything must in the end be mastered. Cromwell was made colonel. His great talents for war became then so conspicuous35 that, when the parliament created the earl of Manchester general of its forces, Cromwell was appointed lieutenant-general, without his having passed through the intervening ranks. Never did any man appear more worthy36 of command. Never was seen more activity and skill, more daring and more resources, than in Cromwell. He is wounded at the battle of York, and, while undergoing the first dressing37, is informed that his commander, the earl of Manchester, is retreating, and the battle lost. He hastens to find the earl; discovers him flying, with some officers; catches him by the arm, and, in a firm and dignified38 tone, he exclaims: “My lord, you mistake; the enemy has not taken that road.” He reconducts him to the field of battle; rallies, during the night, more than twelve thousand men; harangues39 them in the name of God; cites Moses, Gideon, and Joshua; renews the battle at daybreak against the victorious40 royalist army, and completely defeats it. Such a man must either perish or obtain the mastery. Almost all the officers of his army were enthusiasts41, who carried the New Testament42 on their saddle-bows. In the army, as in the parliament, nothing was spoken of but Babylon destroyed, building up the worship of Jerusalem, and breaking the image. Cromwell, among so many madmen, was no longer one himself, and thought it better to govern than to be governed by them. The habit of preaching, as by inspiration, remained with him. Figure to yourself a fakir, who, after putting an iron girdle round his loins in penance43, takes it off to drub the ears of other fakirs. Such was Cromwell. He becomes as intriguing44 as he was intrepid45. He associates with all the colonels of the army, and thus forms among the troops a republic which forces the commander to resign. Another commander is appointed, and him he disgusts. He governs the army, and through it he governs the parliament; which he at last compels to make him commander. All this is much; but the essential point is that he wins all the battles he fights in England, Scotland, and Ireland; and wins them, not consulting his own security while the fight rages, but always charging the enemy, rallying his troops, presenting himself everywhere, frequently wounded, killing46 with his own hands many royalist officers, like the fiercest soldier in the ranks.
In the midst of this dreadful war Cromwell made love; he went, with the Bible under his arm, to an assignation with the wife of his major-general, Lambert. She loved the earl of Holland, who served in the king’s army. Cromwell took him prisoner in battle, and had the pleasure of bringing his rival to the block. It was his maxim47 to shed the blood of every important enemy, in the field or by the hand of the executioner. He always increased his power by always daring to abuse it; the profoundness of his plans never lessened48 his ferocious49 impetuosity. He went to the House of Commons, and drove all the members out, one after another, making them defile50 before him. As they passed, each was obliged to make a profound reverence51; one of them was passing on with his head covered; Cromwell seized his hat and threw it down. “Learn,” said he, “to respect me.”
When he had outraged52 all kings by beheading his own legitimate53 king, and he began himself to reign54, he sent his portrait to one crowned head, Christina, queen of Sweden. Marvel55, a celebrated56 English poet, who wrote excellent Latin verses, accompanied his portrait with six lines, in which he introduces Cromwell himself speaking; Cromwell corrected these two last verses:
At tibi submittit frontem reverentior umbra,
Non sunt hi vultus regibus usque truces57.
The spirit of the whole six verses may be given thus:
Les armes à la main j’ai defendu les lois;
D’un peuple audacieux j’ai vengé la querelle.
Regardez sans frémir cette image fidèle:
Mon front n’est pas toujours l’épouvante des rois.
’Twas mine by arms t’uphold my country’s laws;
My sword maintained a lofty people’s cause;
With less of fear these faithful outlines trace,
Menace of kings not always clouds my face.
This queen was the first to acknowledge him after he became protector of the three kingdoms. Almost all the sovereigns of Europe sent ambassadors to their brother Cromwell — to that domestic of a bishop, who had just brought to the scaffold a sovereign related to them. They emulously courted his alliance. Cardinal58 Mazarin, in order to please him, banished59 from France the two sons of Charles I., the two grandsons of Henry IV., and the two cousins-german of Louis XIV. France conquered Dunkirk for him, and the keys of it were delivered into his possession. After his death, Louis XIV. and his whole court went into mourning, except mademoiselle, who dared to appear in the circle in colors, and alone to maintain the honor of her race.
No king was ever more absolute than Cromwell. He would observe “that he had preferred governing under the name of protector rather than under that of king, because the English were aware of the limits of the prerogative60 of a king of England, but knew not the extent of that of a protector.” This was knowing mankind, who are governed by opinion, and whose opinion depends upon a name. He had conceived a profound contempt for the religion to which he owed his success. An anecdote61, preserved in the St. John family, sufficiently62 proves the slight regard he attached to that instrument which had produced such mighty63 effects in his hands. He was drinking once in company with Ireton, Fleetwood, and St. John, great grandfather of the celebrated Lord Bolingbroke; a bottle of wine was to be uncorked, and the corkscrew fell under the table; they all looked for it, and were unable to find it. In the meantime a deputation from the Presbyterian churches awaited in the antechamber, and an usher64 announced them. “Tell them,” said Cromwell, “that I have retired65, and that I am seeking the Lord.” This was the expression employed by the fanatics66 for going to prayers. Having dismissed the troop of divines, he thus addressed his companions: “Those fellows think we are seeking the Lord, while we are only seeking a corkscrew.”
There is scarcely any example in Europe of a man who, from so low a beginning, raised himself to such eminence67. But with all his great talents, what did he consider absolutely essential to his happiness? Power he obtained; but was he happy? He had lived in poverty and disquiet68 till the age of forty-three; he afterwards plunged69 into blood, passed his life in trouble, and died prematurely70, at the age of fifty-seven. With this life let any one compare that of a Newton, who lived fourscore years, always tranquil71, always honored, always the light of all thinking beings; beholding72 every day an accession to his fame, his character, his fortune; completely free both from care and remorse73; and let him decide whose was the happier lot.
O curas hominum! O quantum est in rebus74 inane75!
O human cares! O mortal toil76 how vain!
§ II.
Oliver Cromwell was regarded with admiration77 by the Puritans and Independents of England; he is still their hero. But Richard Cromwell, his son, is the man for me. The first was a fanatic2 who in the present day would be hissed78 down in the House of Commons, on uttering any one of the unintelligible79 absurdities80 which he delivered with such confidence before other fanatics who listened to him with open mouth and staring eyes, in the name of the Lord. If he were to say that they must seek the Lord, and fight the battles of the Lord — if he were to introduce the Jewish jargon81 into the parliament of England, to the eternal disgrace of the human understanding, he would be much more likely to be conducted to Bedlam82 than to be appointed the commander of armies.
Brave he unquestionably was — and so are wolves; there are even some monkeys as fierce as tigers. From a fanatic he became an able politician; in other words, from a wolf he became a fox, and the knave8, craftily83 mounting from the first steps where the mad enthusiasm of the times had placed him, to the summit of greatness, walked over the heads of the prostrated84 fanatics. He reigned85, but he lived in the horrors of alarm and had neither cheerful days nor tranquil nights. The consolations86 of friendship and society never approached him. He died prematurely, more deserving, beyond a doubt, of public execution than the monarch20 whom, from a window of his own palace, he caused to be led out to the scaffold.
Richard Cromwell, on the contrary, was gentle and prudent87 and refused to keep his father’s power at the expense of the lives of three or four factious88 persons whom he might have sacrificed to his ambition. He preferred becoming a private individual to being an assassin with supreme89 power. He relinquished90 the protectorship without regret, to live as a subject; and in the tranquillity91 of a country life he enjoyed health and possessed92 his soul in peace for ninety years, beloved by his neighbors, to whom he was a peacemaker and a father.
Say, reader, had you to choose between the destiny of the father and that of the son, which would you prefer?
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1
enthusiast
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| n.热心人，热衷者 | |
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fanatic
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| n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的 | |
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fanaticism
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| n.狂热，盲信 | |
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ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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novice
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| adj.新手的，生手的 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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rogue
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| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
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knave
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| n.流氓；（纸牌中的）杰克 | |
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knaves
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| n.恶棍，无赖( knave的名词复数 )；（纸牌中的）杰克 | |
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monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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devout
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| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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credulous
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| adj.轻信的，易信的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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finesse
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| n.精密技巧，灵巧，手腕 | |
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supplants
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| 把…排挤掉，取代( supplant的第三人称单数 ) | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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puritanical
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| adj.极端拘谨的；道德严格的 | |
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monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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monarchy
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| n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国 | |
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procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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scriptures
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| 经文，圣典( scripture的名词复数 )； 经典 | |
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lampoons
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| n.讽刺文章或言辞( lampoon的名词复数 )v.冷嘲热讽，奚落( lampoon的第三人称单数 ) | |
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insipid
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| adj.无味的，枯燥乏味的，单调的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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persuasive
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| adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的 | |
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valor
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| n.勇气，英勇 | |
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hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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besieged
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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gratuity
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| n.赏钱，小费 | |
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bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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harangues
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| n.高谈阔论的长篇演讲( harangue的名词复数 )v.高谈阔论( harangue的第三人称单数 ) | |
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victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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enthusiasts
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| n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 ) | |
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testament
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| n.遗嘱；证明 | |
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penance
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| n.（赎罪的）惩罪 | |
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intriguing
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| adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心 | |
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intrepid
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| adj.无畏的，刚毅的 | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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maxim
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| n.格言，箴言 | |
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lessened
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| 减少的，减弱的 | |
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ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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defile
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| v.弄污，弄脏；n.(山间)小道 | |
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reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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outraged
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| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
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legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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truces
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| 休战( truce的名词复数 )； 停战（协定）； 停止争辩（的协议）； 中止 | |
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cardinal
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| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
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banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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prerogative
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| n.特权 | |
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anecdote
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| n.轶事，趣闻，短故事 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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usher
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| n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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fanatics
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| 狂热者，入迷者( fanatic的名词复数 ) | |
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eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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disquiet
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| n.担心，焦虑 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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prematurely
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| adv.过早地，贸然地 | |
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tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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rebus
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| n.谜,画谜 | |
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inane
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| adj.空虚的，愚蠢的，空洞的 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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hissed
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| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
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unintelligible
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| adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的 | |
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absurdities
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| n.极端无理性( absurdity的名词复数 )；荒谬；谬论；荒谬的行为 | |
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jargon
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| n.术语，行话 | |
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bedlam
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| n.混乱，骚乱；疯人院 | |
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craftily
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| 狡猾地，狡诈地 | |
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84
prostrated
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| v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的过去式和过去分词 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力 | |
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reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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consolations
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| n.安慰，慰问( consolation的名词复数 )；起安慰作用的人（或事物） | |
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87
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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88
factious
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| adj.好搞宗派活动的，派系的，好争论的 | |
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89
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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90
relinquished
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| 交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃 | |
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91
tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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92
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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