Oliver fROMWELL R. Pau 1 i tmaam The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027976368 Cornell University Library DA 426.P327 1888 Oliver Cromwell 3 1924 027 976 368 olin BOHK'S SELECT LIBRARY. OLIVEK CROMWELL. OLIVEK CEOMWELL BY REINHOLD PAULI TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN . 1 LONDON: GEORGE BELL AND SONS YORK STllKET, COVENT GARDEN 1888 h A zr; CORP' J i^ i\ l\ f\ \ / ChISWICK PlCliSS :— C. WHITTINCMAM and CJ., TOOKS COlRT^ CHANCr.KY LAiXE. EDITOR'S PREFACE. THE following essay by the late Prof. Pauli, whose interest in and knowledge of English constitutional history has been evinced by other and larger works^ jbppeared originally in the series entitled Ber Neiie Plutarch (Brockhaus, Leipzig) The translation is a literal one^ and the only liberties which have been taken with the original consist in the division of the work into chapters and the addition of a few footnotes. CONTENTS. PAOK I. TuDOKs AND Stuarts 1 II. King Charles I. 9 III. Cromwell's Early Life . 20 IV, King and Parliament , 28 Y. Civil War . ,36 YI. Supremity of Parliament 49 YII. The Commonwealth 70 YIII. Subjugation of Scotland So IX. Parliament Superseded 101 X. Cromwell as Protector IIG XI. Cromwell as Protector « 128 XII. Cromwell as Protector 145 XIII. Death of Cromwell 162 •>; OLIVER CROMWELL. CHAPTER I. TUDORS AND STUARTS. THE TUDOES. —HENRY VIII. MARY. — ELIZABETH. THE SECRET OF THEIR POWER. THE STQARTS. THEIR CHARACTER. CONTRAST BETWEEN ELIZABETH AND HER SUCCESSOR. —JAMES I. RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. THE PURITANS. THEIR PRINCIPLES AND DOCTRINES.—JAMESES HYPOCRISY. DORT SYNOD. THE Tudors^ under whose reign England^s eman- cipation from the Roman yoke was completed^ not only promoted the vigorous growth of the nation in other parts of Britain^ but paved the way for our dominion across the sea^ and raised up a powerful kingdom from almost hopeless destruction. How- ever extraordinary it may appear, Henry VIII. and his two daughters^ both Catholic Mary and Protestant Elizabeth, were powerful and even popular rulers. The secret of their power lay in this : they knew how to assert their will in the face of the ever- changing streams of conflicting opinions^ and made judicious use of an older and more lawful authority than the mere right of conquest and conventional B 2 OLIVEIi CROMWELL. treaty^ whereby their race obtained the crown. That authority was based on the ancient and fundamental laws of the realm, which, though subservient to the monarchy, yet allowed landed proprietors of all classes that ample scope for individual activity which they had been accustomed to for centuries. The Tudors did not indeed attack the principle of self-government in its general outlines, but in fact used it as they thought fit, and made it serve the ends of the most awful and unbearable caprices of tyranny. It was certainly not afiection which bound the English people to Elizabeth, even in her palmiest days, but the great majority regarded with deep veneration a queen who had, with such unrivalled success, guarded and upheld the country^s honour in a style so truly regal. After her death, the right of succession devolved upon an alien race, nurtured in an atmosphere of Spanish despotism, and holding political opinions which, up to that time, had been hardly dreamed of in England. The Stuarts came with their jus diviniim, with their monarchy of divine origin, which was diametrically opposed to all the laws of humanity. Who does not know the tragic fate of this ill- starred house ? No other family, not even that of the Bourbons, reminds one so forcibly of those ancient Theban dynasties, whose mournful fortunes were de- picted in the Greek tragedies, as warning examples to a free nation. In more recent ages, no race has, with equal wantonness, called down the curse of its country and the wrath of Heaven, until at length the storm broke, and annihilated the monarchy. In the lon^ TUDORS AND STUARTS, 3 line of the Stuarts^ we cannot call to mind one who could ever have been adequate to the political demands of his country, who could have regained the affection of his subjects and atoned for the sins of his fathers. They one and all misused the precious talent entrusted to them, and sinned against their own kingdom, and when weighed in the balance they have indeed been found wanting. > What a contrast between Elizabeth and her imme- diate successor ! During the life of the old Queen but few storms had passed over the land, and by her last acts she bade a dignified and majestic farewell to her country and subjects. But James T., on his acces- sion, proved a weak, mean-spirited creature, talking his broad Scotch with a halting tongue,—aknock-kneed coward and thorough pedant, for ever prating about his royal abilities. He delighted in stumbling through the toughest works on theology, and flatterers called him the ^^ Solomon of the North ;^^ but the celebrated envoy of Henry IV. declared that now he had seen the wisest fool on a throne. But what was even worse, though Mary Stuart had given her life for her faith, her son James never seriously supported his unhappy mother, but had learned to curry favour alike with Catholics and Cal- vinists, so as not to spoil his chances of the English crown. As long as he was making unsuccessful efforts in Scotland to oppose the popular church there by the restoration of the Episcopacy, he thought fit to ; '"* jeer at the Anglicans and their ^^ mutilated missal but no sooner did he find himself on the English throne, or as he expressed it, ^4n the Land of Promise,^' than he took for his motto, ^^No bishop, no king.'^ 4 ' ^ OLIVER CROMWELL. Thenceforth the crowned pedagogue lost no oppor- tunity of impressing upon Lords and Commons alike that all privileges depended on his own gracious pleasure, and that his sovereign vnll was stronger than any laws however absolute. In twenty years he had brought matters to such a pitch, that the struggle between might and right be- came perfectly chronic. He also took it upon himself to arbitrate between his Catholic and Protestant sub- jects, although he did not scruple to leave his hapless son-in-law, the Elector Palatine, to his fate at the Weisser Berg^ near Prague. This was another sore point in the heart of every true patriot. ^ But the evil which England in particular was suf- fering from, though it was common to the age, was of a religious rather than a political nature, and was fostered and increased by the many devious and crooked paths whereby the Reformation crept into this country. True, when first its breath was felt, there was, as in Germany, no lack of subtle and independent spirits, who, having cast off the authority of Rome, and even denied the traditions of St. Augustine, fear- lessly studied the Bible for themselves. But the people had no idea of its rational perusal, and in our politically united country there could of course be no question of starting a fresh system altogether, like that of the early Christians for instance, especially since the strong arm of Henry VIII. had put a decided bar to the decentralizing influences of the great re- ligious convulsions, by substituting his own authority for that of the Pope, and making the Episcopacy de- pendent upon the crown. And, though with regard to the people the royal authority was limited, still in TUB oils AND STUARTS. 5 ecclesiastical matters it became perfectly absolute; and even after having entirely broken with Rome, the state, from a spirit of contradiction, endeavoured to retain the Catholic religion. It was comparatively late when, under Edward VL, sundry reformed doctrines of Genevan origin, particularly those regarding the Sacrament, found their way into England. Even when, in consequence of Henry VIII/s six articles, and Mary^s Catholic reaction, crowds of the new believers fled to the continent, and were fa- miliarized with the advanced doctrines of German and Swiss communities —when an ever-increasing number was seized with a wish for a complete change of re- ligion and that absolute liberty of conscience, the lovo of which is deeply rooted in the Germanic mind—even then the strong-minded Tudors persisted in restraining that inclination to autonomy, which had made itself felt since the middle of the sixteenth century, by a rigid code of laws both parliamentary and ecclesias- tical. The future of the country and the people thus depended on the issue of a conflict between two growing religious systems. The Anglo- Catholics, whose ecclesiastical ideal was apparently the fifth century, believed in an authority combined with extended Episcopal powers; and, united with the state, they developed great capacities for government. As they retained the entire traditions of the church, together with an almost unchanged ritual, and doctrines leaving little room for specula- tion, there was a good chance of their returning to Rome, especially when sundry High Church parties and individuals began to think they might bow to the infallibility of the Pope. But, fortunately, the new ; 6 OLIVER CROMWELL. cliurcli contained a good many conciliatory and latitu- dinarian principles^ and so was found broad and elastic enough to suit various opinions ; and during the centuries of struggle it also developed a critical, learned, and rational spirit. The Puritans in every stage of their history stood up for liberty of conscience and civil independence, regarding the Holy Scriptures as the word of God, and refusing to accept any dogmatic interpretation.