The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-04-16
SOME NEW o


Oliver Cromwell which has yet appeared in
English. or. for that matter. In any language.
We are Indebted 10 the Rev. GEonoE d. CLARK.
b. d. I'd. Lothrop a Co.L II IL doubtless true
that. but for the LAHORE Of CARLYLE. such q
biography as the one before us could not have
been written. II would be u mistake. however.
to infer thai this book was not needed. or that
Il does not testify to nrst-hsnd research and
original Interpretation Although Macaulay
had already IN one OF his essays suggested the
right conception OF Cromwell. the work which
Carlyle performed for the great Protector has
been ftly compared TO the decipherine OF q
palimpsest or to the restoration OF . painting
overlaid with the daubings OF alleged improv-
ers and with the dust Of time. But Carlyles
book was rather q compilation OF documents
than q consecutive artistic history. and. out
side OF professional students. the readers are
few who are tempted even By the luminous and
~iucisive DOM m Of the editor to toll through
. multitude OF letters aud speeches. What
we lacked was n presentation OF Carlyle's con-
illusions In n concise. coherent. and attractive
way. That is what DR.. Clark has given us. but
he has BY no means confined himself to Car
lyle's material or to his Interpretation OF It.
Outside OF tho letters and speeches. Carlyle
seems to have lcf, largo lelds unoxplored. II
he read the State papers collected Ivy Thur
loe. he made but little use OF the
He complains that Thurloc had no useful in
dex. and the absence OF illusions TO scenes
and events in the stats rapers' indicates that
he did not go carefully drought the collection.
He was even mistaken about the index.
for tho London edition OF 1912 has
q Iull one at ths end OF eacli volume.
Then there arc ths Rushworth. White,ocke.
and Nnlson papers relating to the Common
wealth and tho Pratectorate. WHICH Carlyle
dismisses as "lre1ry old records" Tut which
contain some intercstiu: and valuable Catn.
DR.. Clark is convinced fron, his own re-
searches that years could be spent in New
England libraries alone in collecting hitherto
unused materials for a life Of Cromwell
DR.. Clark believes that Cromwell was not
only aGreat man. but a good man: not only
the greatest Englishnan that ever lived. but
one OF the most stainless. whether We regard
his public conduct or his private character. On
this point. before setting forth his own con-
yictions. he reproducss some remarkable
words OF Samuel L. Gardiner. author
Of the history Of the Great Civil
Var" and the highest living authority
with regard to the England Of the
seventeenth century. After subIectinR. says
TO the first rules OF criticism the
writings OF Cromwell's enemies. which are to
the last degree uniavorable to his upriGhtness
q character. 1T was with no little surprise
that / found one charge after another melt
away as l was able to fix a date to the words
or actions which had given rise to hostile COM
ment. Thus tested. the cromwell Of such de-
famers as Lilburne and Wildman shows him
self the same man as the Cromwell OF his
letters and the Clarke papers: no divinely
inspired hero. indeed. or faultless monster.
but q brave. honorable man. striving accord
ing to his lights to lead his countrvmen into
the paths OF peace and godliness." A similar
OF Cromwell is taken by Tame. The
French historian recognized that Carlyle had
unearthed one OF the noblest men Of past cen
turies: that Cromwell had risen from the
dead: that he stood on things and not on the
Of things: that he was o reality and not
Ahypocrite or harlequin. as the courtisrs Of
Charles IL depicted him. Tame found In Crom-
we'll this continually recurring sentiment:
Am I q just man 2" He tells US that Oliver
believed in . sublime and terrible God. and
that how to worship him was no trifing thing.
The fact which has especially struck
1he author OF this book. and which he
brings out with peculiar emphasis. is
tho complete absence in Cromwell OF all
positive bad qualities. DE-. Clark has searched
all the books about Cromwell from Bates
and Dugdale down. all histories. poems. |
text books. all his speeches and letters.
and he annot discover that the Protector had.
It any time OF his life. one evil thought or pur-
pose. He does not. Of course. assert that
Cromwell went through q life OF nearly sixty
years free from evil thoughts. but he does
aflrm that no royalist defamer has been able
% show a single decd emanating from q wick
Cd intention. Temper he had. and he had use
for It: but. apart from temper. it is impossible
for any calumniator to prove that he had any
moral weakness or infrmity. The only shred
Of evidence ostensibly adverse to the good
character OF Oliver Cromwell is found in the
registry OF the parish church at Huntingdon.
The evidence. such as it IL. was dis
covered by the late Bishop Phillips Brooks.
who a few years ago. while looking FOR the
record OF divers baptism. found an entry
showing that he had been punished for some
ecclesiastical offence in the year 1915. when
he was II years old. Oliver was brought UP Q |
rigorous Puritan. and 1t is not unlikely that he
might subject himself to ecclesiastical dis |
cipline by ayowiDg a dislike OF changes in the
manner OF conducting the services or In the
chancel arrangements OF the church. It must
b remembered that the reaction in favor OF
yituaiism had already begun. and it was only
about q year later that Laud himself was
made Archdeacon OF Huntington. This un-
specified ecclesiastical offence is actually the
only transgression which the most searching
scrutiny can bring home TO CromwelL
The accusation OF cruelty In Ireland lie pro-
bounced not only by DIR. Clark. but by Car
lyle and Gardiner to be refuted by divers
own letters to the Irish people. There IL not
the slightest evidence that Cromwell was ever
diss.pated. either in youth or In his after
life. The charge OF dissipation rests mainly
on a few lines which Oliver wrote to q cousin
when he was ~ years old. in which he tells
her that he had loved darkness" and had
been the chic! OF sinners" This was sim
ply G strong Calvinistic way OF stating his
condition before conversion: Jonathan Ed
wards. one OF the purest men that ever
lived. would have used Just such phrases
in like circumstances. On the letter in
question CARLYLE has a comment SO char
acteristic that We reproduce 1t here: q
Mark Noble. my reverend imbecile friend.
discovers In this letter clear evidence
Mat Oliver was once a very dissoluts man:
that Csrrion Heath spaks truth In that Fla.
Geiium balderdash OF HIS Oh. my reverend
lmbecile friend hadst thou thyself never any