New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-04-02
OLIVER. CROMWELL
A NEW BIOGRAPHY.

OLIVER CROMWELL. By George H. 'liik' u; ~
With illustrations from old paintings ana prints.
PIP. 255. d. Lothrop Company.
At the present day the strongest argument
.oo;,s, .be correctness OF Carlylc's biography OF
CromxclI is the memory of Carlyle himself. II
o.rno. AZ vet be forgotten that he was wrong
ON the subject of slavery and on the question
If American union. that he measured nearly
all modern life by the dyspcptic standard he
had set IN for himself at Craiqcnputt)ck that
in his Abbo, Samson" he defended or CLOSED 'Ie
worst crueltics Of mediaeval monkey. ana that
he showed himself from first TO last incapao"
Of a lust distinction between the two propo-
stions: might makes right, ard right MAKES
might. For this reason, DR.. Clark has done
we'll 70 depend upon the letters ana speeches OF
Cromwell as edited by Carlyle rather than upon
tho philosophical reflections OF Carlyle himself
He admircs the heroic outlines OF Crom"elIS
character the grandeur of his achievements. put
he exp,esscs that admiration in less lnri1 iah-
auaae. In his statement of the cnsc, tie hesi-
tatinp reader, il il 10 be lmagined' VIII i"S'e"
mon rhe relations of the Lord Protector u fdria
ment as the point most dubious III MS Poa.'o''
career. Now this period presented propieihs
which CARLYLE. if he had followed the dictates Oh
his own imperious temper, would nave s'iNcu
in single sentence. lie would not nave hcsi-
tated as long as Cromwell ola ABOUT dis'hisT'he
Farliaments, long or short In MN inc pc"u-
coo;c disnosition ran to excess in Cromwell,
fortunately for England, it was res'rai'ic'' n"'
Ca,,vlc's contempt for deliberative bodies las
;,toc.od Dr (1arl, TO the extent that he brings
!, General indictment against all Parliaments i'll
tho oucstion. "Whcn on this earth did ever Tour
bundled wise encn got together and speak
rlain inference would be that all parliaments,
ronaresses diets. or what not were better abo-
,sbcd Bnt that is not the lesson of history
Crouyvel,s summary dismissal of the Long
Parliament from the point OF view OF modern
freedom il 10 he justified, not by his criticism OF
sins of commission and OMISSION criticism Which
was not devoid of the pctulancc Of a great and
masterful man hampered by those who did not
.oree with him, but by the fact that tho members
az that Parliament had ceased to represent their
constituencies But he was not less arbitrary
with the legislatures that succeeded. lie was
determined that there should be no discussion
upon the very points which the whole nation
wac discussing with angry intensity. When the
members of the House. fresh from the electorate,
insisted on considering the form OF government,
they showed, right or wrong that TINS was inc
thing concerning which the nation was ANXIOUS
Cromwell may have been right in mis- dc'ire to
keen that question in the background. But it
must be remembered that the phenomena Of 3
representative system were not as yet very we'll
understood 1t may not have occurred to Cron-
we'll that one of the uses of Parliament was to
discover what the people wanted. In effect he
did not wait to learn thai, but said to the lcgis-
lators: "You fail to pass the laws that in my
opinion are Indispensable That would crrtoinly
not be deemed valid reason for prolosung
Parliament in this century Tie problem OF the
present day is: What do the people desire II
il coming 10 be understood more and more clearly
every day that the people know their own bnsi-
oess best. The best type of ruler is not he who
plays the muster, but he who plays the scholar
The question which Parliament, to Cromwell'
discortent. persstcntly troubled itself about was
the orc which never quilted the minds OF English
men until after the Revolution Of 1858 They
droppcd ID tl.en, not because they were weary oi
IL. hut because the answer was coming
Ii docs not detract from (ronwell's greatness
| "A q man, soldier and 4 statesman to say tla
| he was not clear in his conception of what wal
meant by the representative element in the Con
stitution. lie would have been more than huma,