The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1895-06-29

associated. 1t is a mistake that Crom'
well was descended from plebeiar
ancestry. His father was Sir Thomas
Cromwell, and his mother traced
her descent from the Stuarts, the royal
family of Scotland. Being OF re-
ligious turn of mind, ne allied himself
in early life with the Puritans, some
of whom settled in Massachusetts, and
furnished the basis of the sturdy char.
acter of the New England emigrants.
He was intensely religious, and gave
more attention to the extreme justice
of the Old than to the mercy
incalculated in the New Tes-
lament. Cromwell, unlike Napo'
leon, was not ambitious.
What he did he believed
to be in accordance with the will OF
God, and not for his own aggrandise-
ment. There was not single act
upon which he did not ask the blessing
and guidance of God Almighty. His
troops were invincible, and, GO.
ing into battle with psalm on their
lips these old Puritans surmounted
every obstacle. 1t cannot be denied
that he established the constitutional
rights Of Englishmen which had been
ruthlessly trodden under foot by the
Stuarts. The Bill of Rights, which
he forced Charles I. to sign, has been
the palladium of liberty in the old cOun-
try and in America. Our own citizens
| owe debt of gratitude to Cromwell,
as well as the Inhabitants of the
British empire. The glory of Crom
| wells conquests resounded through
Europe, and there was not poten-
tate that did not tremble at the
sound of Cromwell and his Puritans.
But he was bigoted sectarian. and
he had not the least sympathy with
any who were opposed to him in relg-
ious belief. He believed that God was
| only favorable to those of his own
faith, and any kind of cruelty to those
| opposing was in accordance with the
divine command. The Scottish Pres.
byterians he pursued with unrelenting
vigor, and Irish Papists he slaught-
cred as he would rats or mice.
Hume, with the pessimism incident
to skepticism, has denounced him the
greatest hypocrite of the age.
Macauley is his apologist, and SO
is Carlyle. John Milton, the
modern Homer, defends him, and
eulogizes his actions. His character
is unique, and is susceptible of the
severest censure as we'll as the most
laudatory praise. In his family rela-
tions he was pure as driven snow-a
loving father, an affectionate husband
and steadfast friend. His word was
never violated, and whatever promises
made were fulfilled to the letter. But
he was austere to those who differed
with him, and had no sort OF
liberality or charity to those who
had diverse religious opinions. Still
he guaranteed and maintained
the greatest freedom among sectarians,
and Englishmen enjoyed the full priv
ilege of worshiping God according to
the dictates of their own conscience.
Lamartine condemns him for the exc
cution of Charles I and the massacre
of the Irish papists. The former mer-
tied his fate by his violations of the
English constitution, and his death
was simply justice to an outrage peo-
pie. The latter cannot be justified,
and the only apology that can be Of
fered is the blind bigotry that pre-
vailed during the latter part of the fif-
teenth and beginning of the sixteenth
century. The world has grown more
liberal in this era; but we should not
judge men of a superstitious period by
the same rules as those of an enlight-
ened age. Acts which would be con-
scientious and honest in the one would
be brutal and reprehensible in the
other.
There can be no doubt that Oliver
Cromwell was great man, worthy of
prominent place in the history of the
world. He was man of strong
characteristics, and had many
of the elements of Napoleon,
but was not actuated by the same
selfish motives as the little Corsican.
He gave liberty to England and re-
stored the constitution to the empire;
but he was merciless to bis enemies
and uncharitable to religious oppo-
nents. In the light of this age, as a
character in dark epoch
of the world, he is entitled to momu
ment from the British people, and we
believe theIrish members of parliament
pursued wrong course when they
permitted their desire for revenge for
suffered over three hundred
years ago to be their controlling
motives for action in parliament.