Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1856-11-07
miscellaneous Artlflfs.
CROMWELL.
THE following is from a review Oh
Carlvle's Cromwell, and Guizots Eng
lish Republic and Cromwell.

Few, even of Cromwelfs personal en-
emies. would have denied that he was
the first of English soldiers, and the first
of English statesmen. No one could
doubt, that by his arms, his policy, and
his ardent patriotism, England has been
raised to the summit of glory and great
ness. Yet he was scarcely laid in his
tomb, when his people suffered the dregs
of humanity to profane his ashes; and
for almost two centuries it has suffered
the dregs of literature to deile his name.
By the hearth, and in the prison of the
Puritan, reverence was still paid to his
memory, beneath the protection of whose
mighty arm, the poor and humble had
worshipped God in peace. Millions SON
net still spoke in strange and scandolous
accents of
"Our chief of men, who through cloud
Not of war only, but detractions rude,
Guided by faith and matehless fortitude,
To peace and truth thy glorious way has
powed,
And on the neck of crowned fortune proud
Hast reared Gods trophies and his work pur-
sued"
But generally hatred, SANDER. and igno-
rance, worked their will with CromwelPs
fame. To the mass of his countrymen,
the worst act in his SPLENDID life was his
history, as the coarsest feature in his he
roic countenance, was his portraite. So
far have adherence of fanaticism, hatred
of military sway, and the memory of one
dark deed, together with the merited alb
florence of Tory, and the cowardly phil
osophy of Wing writers, availed to make
the English nation unjust to the memory
of the greatest man.
The fate Of the Protectors reputation
seemed sealed by the judgment of Hume
and afterwards of Mr.. Hallam. Hume
was, above all things, gentleman al
atheist; and Cromwell, in his day, wa
the enemy of both. AS a historian h.
was averse to the trouble of reference
and by no means averse to telling false
hoods, provided they were told in thu
grand style. 1t may be safely said that
the frsttwo pages of his chapter on Cron
well every sentence contains an untrutl
This he did with easy good nature, II
posing on his sofa, and without the Sigh
est shock to that moral philosophy, whic
was an elegant handmade to the plea:
ures of gentleman. Mr.. Hallam's Ger
sure is comparably more grave. b
Mr.. Hallam adores the letter of the Coz
stitution, and, he has no sympathy f;
religious enthusiasm, or irregular grea
ness. He hates Luther as well as Cror
we'll He is even disposed to be coz
paratively kind to Napoleon, becau:
Napoleon was always talking of his sta
while Cromwell was always talking
his God.
DIR. Carlyle first efectually stemmt
the tide of nonsense and injustice: al
It's England owes him gratitude for so doin
though he has not failed to give US son
SPLENDID injustice of his own. He writ
history, as everybody knows, on t
theory that great men are divinities, al
that to worship them is the one hope
salvation for mankind. If character
history is very strong and very succe.
full, he is perfect in wisdom and in GOO
ness; and whoever doubts either, is to
bludgeoned with hard names. The la,
of morality were not made for hero
nor the laws of candor and Justice, I
their biographers. This theory is simr
false. Great men of all kinds, from t
auther of Hamlet to the victor of Dumb
are, indeed, one of the highest gifts
Heaven; they ought to be judged by t
spirit rather than by the letter of the Ia
and to over-prize them, is a generous
ror. But they are all of them palpat
men-men with only one gift, and alwa
with many weaknesses and limited visic
Mr. Carlyle, who, as hero worshipp
treats his heroes as incarnations of Ell
nal truth, is obliged as a skeptic to tr,
inc. them all successfully, as the trainse
emanations of their time.
nd After the hero worship of Mr.. Carly
comes the history of NJ. Guizot. W
Ip 9' reaps the fruit of Mr.. Carlyle's noble
Dor, and enjoyes the light of his geni
ter without special hallucinations, NJ. Gui;
has given us an admirable narrative.
and more candid than from an English y,
his moral judgment is rather Mach
ana velllan. He folks of the designs of Pr
and ldence, as though he was as intimate vi
Its councils, as with those of Ionis Ph
,oil- ippe; but ne sometimes talks of hmm
motives as though he had never kno,
am an honest man. He sees cajolery, whe
,;ro common mind sees nothing but %
sense. Cromwell desires that the eff
ling OF his army may be put on the Dnnt
nlnHaI 1of l.