The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1872-03-16
MISCELLANEOUS.
OLIVER CROMWELL.

OLIVER CROMN ELL.
Oliver Cromwell. the great Protector,
came Of good family on both sides, and
after passing about a year at Cambridge,
was removed to Lincoln's Inn, with the
view Of prosecuting his studies for the bar.
1t has been said that he was addicted to
low pleasures and gaming in his youth;
but when we find him, in his twenty-tiIst
year, marrying the daughter of Sir John
Bourchier, and spoken of by religious men
as professor of religion, we are inclined
to believe that he has been vilified with
malice, rather than spoken of with justice.
! In 1923 he was elected member of Parlia-
ment for Huntingdon, and in the following
year, distinguished himself by his zeal
against the bishops. When the Parlia-
ment was dissolved, he retired into the
country. and took a grazing farm at St.
Ivet, where he became overseer of the
parish, and a jealous member of the rel-
gious community with which he had con-
pected himself In1636 Sir Thomas Stuart,
his maternal uncle, died, leaving him pro-
perty in the Isle of Ely" worth $500 a
! year. To this place he now removed his
family; but being disguised with the meas
ures of the government, he, in 1857, actu-
ally took passage for himself and family
| in ship lying in the Thames, and bound
for New England, in America. This YES
sci was detained by proclamation; but if
she had been suffered to proceed on her
voyage, the head of Charles l would, per-
haps, never have been forfeited to his
country; England would never have been
a commonwealth, nor Oliver Cromwell its
| Protector. In 164O he was returned to
| Parliament for Cambridge, and, by this
| time had become a popular leader, being call
ed Lord of the Fens, ?" for having defend
cd portion of the fen country of Cam
! bridgeshire from being wrested from the
people by the grasping hands of certain
proprietors who had been draining for
themselves. In 1G42, when parliament
determined upon hostilities, he went to
Cambridge, where he raised troop of
horse, and which he himself so ably com
manded, that he soon acquired the rank of
colonel, and great reputation for military
! skill and valor, His men were we'll discip-
! lined, and, under his leadership, at the
battle of Marston Moor, in 1914 acquired
the name of "Ironsides. At Stamford,
and in the second battle at Newbury,
Cromwell greatlp distinguished himself,
and received from his party, the title of
sSavor of the Nation" This party con-
sisted of the independents who had gained
so great an influence in Parliament as to
pass the famous selfdenying ordinance, by
which all members of either house were
excluded from commands in the army
From this however, Cromwell, on account
of his value to the cause, was excepted; a
stroke of policy which preserved his ascend
ancy in the army, and paved the way for
his future advancement. He was now
made lieutenant general, and by his con
duct in 1645, the battle of Naseby, which
determined the fate of the Ioyalists, was
won. This victory was followed by a
series of successes, for which he was voted
a pension of SO, 800 per annum, and the
thanks of the House. When the King
was handed over by the Scotch to the Par
Lament, Cremueli determined to get him
into his own power This he affected in
1647, by means of Cosnet Joyce, a young
and spirited soldier. He now obtained
| II, ;af Of fho Nd OF
ference at Windsor, which he himself
opened with prayer, prorounIed the bold
measure of punisnlng the king by a judi
cial sentence. Charles was now in the Isle
the north against the Scots, a nd into the
west against the Welsh. Whenever he
fought, success attended him, and return
ing to London, he purged the Parliament
house Of its ,noInRers, by means of his
troopers, under the direction of Colonel
Pride, In the January of 1649 the king S
trial commenced. Cromwell was the third
to sign the warrant for his execution, and
the monarch suffered accordingly. Crom-
well was now called into Ireland, Whe,e he
took a terrible vengeance upon the inhabi-
tants OF Drogheda. Waterford and several
other places. In 1850 he returned to Eng
land. and was sent against the Scots, who
had armed to restore Charles II. On Sep
TENDER 3, 1890, he gained the battle of
Dunbar; and that day twelvemonta he
defeated Charles u Worcester. The SOW
erigu power was now within his reach, and
he did not hesitate to graspit. According
ly, on February 16, 1854, he was invested
with the dignity of Protector of the COM
monwealth of England, Scotland, and Ire
land, in the Court of Chancery. In this
capacity, he vigorously directed the affairs
OF the kingdom, making the English flag,
borne by men like Blake, respected when
ever it was seen. In 1868, however, he
became moody and suspicious. In the
August of that year, his fayorite daughter,
Mrs. CiaypoIe, died at Hampton Court
This event with the publication of
pamphlet by Colonel Titus, entitled g Kill
ing no murder" tending to prove the assas-
sination of atyrant public duty, produced
slow fever: from which he never rallied
He was by order of his physicians, removd
to Whitehall for change of air. bat aoth
ing would avail hin, uow. lie died on the
Sd of September, 1858, the anniversary of
the victories of Dunbar and Worcester,
and day which he was accustomed to con-
| slider especially fortunate to himself His,
corpse was inferred on the 25th of April,
in Henry the Seventh chapel whence, at
the Restoration. it was taken and exposed
| on, cEs II Is said, buried under the gal
lows at Tyburn. 1t is needless here to
enter into the character of CROMWELL
That he was one of the greatest statesmen
and most valiant warriors England has
produced, none will deny; and that he was
as good, if not better. .haa most men
would have peen under the same circum-
stances, few will be inclined to dispute
Cromwell had six children, viz: Richard,
Henry, Bridget, Elizabeth, Mary, and
Frances. Richard succeeded him IN The
DrOtcctOrate. but when q fairs luruad o,d