The record-union., 1899-06-20
cRoMwELL's EARLY LIFE.

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expected to be a very enjoyable affair.
cRoMwELL's EARLY LIFE
Recolleotions Of the Great Eng-
Hshman.
Three hundred years ago, on April
%, 1899, Oliver Cromwell was born In
the good town of Huntingdon, Eng
land
His father, Robert, was the second
son of Sir Henry Cromwell of Hinchin-
brook and grandson Of one Richard
Williams, who had risen to fortune un-
der the protection of Thomas Crom-
. well, Earl Of Essex.
Cromwell went to the grammar school
at Huntingdon, a very interesting in
stitution, where the first seeds of puri-
tanism We're sown in his mind, and his
old schoolmaster, if he did not send
Cromwell to Parliament, certainly in
fuenced the future lord protector 9
Parliamentary career, says Sketch" !"
The school stands in the High street.
opposite All Saints Church, where the
register with the entry of CromweI's ,
birth may be seem Cromwell was born
in a houss in Ernine street This hoalse
has been rebuilt several times. so that,
unfortunately, nothing Of the original
structure remains.
A good many legends have grown up
about the boyhood of Oliver Cromwell,
but one thing is pretty clear, from
evidence which looks reliable-namely,
that he was but an Indifferent pupil
1t may be that DR. Beard, who was one
of the greatest scholars and divines OF
the time, was rather exacting. Crom-
well left school when he was II, to
continue his education at Sidney -Sus-
sex College, Cambridge. He remained,
however, under the religious influence
of DR.. Beard, who was Jealous puri-
tan and closely associated with the
Cromwell family. When Charles l.
granted Huntingdon new charter DR.
Beard and Oliver were made the first
two magistrates. The only speech which
Cromwell made in the first Parliament
in which he sat contained a reference
to his old schoolmaster. Later on
master and pupil joined in maintaining
the freedom of the pulpit against the
pretensions Of the Bishops.
What remains of the school is a
dates from 1857. It's full name was
the Hospital of St. John the Baptist"
and it was an institution founded by
David, the first Earl of Huntingdon
the Sir Kenneth of Scott's 'Talisman'
for the purpose of providing relief
and maintenance fer poor people, giving
hospitality to the pilgrim and the way
farer. and at the same time carrying
on certain educational work. In me-
dieval times it was no doubt the onI,
educational institution, hospital and
charity in the town.
All that is left now is small build
ing, which looks as if it had originally
been chapel attached to larger edi-
flee. For. some reason or other the
building was incased in an outer shell
of Elizabethan design, and it was only
in 1874, when this outer she'll was re-
moved, that the original Norman
structure was discovered. Almost the
whole school was then taken down and
carefully rebuilt, as nearly as possible
after the original style. The late Dion
Boucicault undertook to defray the ex-
penses of restoration in memory of his
son, who was killed in a railway acct
fact, Mr.. Boucicault never paid the
amount, nearly $4.5C0, SO that it had
to be made up by local subscriptions.
The gable of the school fronts on the
High street, and contains fine Nor
man doorway, now bricked up. Above
this doorway there is an arcade with
two window piercings, and in the gable
of this end appears symbolic device
of the vesica piscis. The front Is
terminated by the addition of bell
gable. There is a bricked-up arch in
the outer gable, and the outer walls
consist of two great bays, also bricked
up, except for the modern windows
they contain Each of these bays and
arches is in a somewhat different style,
dating from the Norman period. In
deed, the whole building as restored
still retains it's Norman expression The
interior of the building is only twenty
four feet long and twenty feet wide
the smallest grammar school in Great
Britain. The institution has a repre-
sentative body of governors, of which
the Earl of Sandwich, who Is also May
or of Huntingdon, is Chairman. The
governors are just now appealing for
funds to obtain additional buildings,
increase the endowment and establish
scholarships.
Huntingdon is more divided about
the merits of Cromwell to-day than
it was when he represented it in Par
hament To one party he is the mnr-
derer of Charles l., traitor, a hypo-
critic; to another, the savior of his
country, the Christian soldier, the ma
tional hero. When few weeks ago
it was proposed to get up some me-
mortal of Cromwell, a member of the
Town Council said he could take no
part in commemorating a regicide. It
has been decided at towns meeting,
however, to erect statue. The gov
ernors of the grammar school have
scheme of their own, and the free.
churchmen are satisfied by partici-.
pating in the former proposal. Various
memorials of Cromwell are to be
found, notably the cne in the Houses of
Parliament but London might easily
raise a great statue of the protector.
1t is curious to find the references to
him in Sardou's "Robespierres now
being played by Irving at the London
Lyceum. There he figures as a sort
of splendid demigod.-Chicago News.
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