The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-05-20
asoen, OF the future General Of the Common
wealth.
He lived reserved and Austefe.
ASH his highest plot
To niant the bsrgamot

ASH his highest plot
To plant the bergamot
Nevertheless. as Mr.. Firth reminds 10. the
echo Of German drums must have pene'ra'eu
even to these private gardens and seouestereo
fields and the Thirty Years Val must have
\ stirred Cromwell as IL stirred Eliot. His later
| life %sufices TO prove II. In i6+7, when the kns-
lish civil war seemed over. Cromwell thought OF
| taking service in Germany himself "nen no
became Protector his Eur opean policy was In
spired by the passions Of the Thlrty ieare
War. To the Puritan farmer. prescient OF q
| future struggle on his native soil. the war IN
Germany was not merely a spectacle, but m'h-
tary education. Mr.. Firth points out mat
some Of the best accounts OF the battles and war
like methods Of Gustavus Adolphus were pub
llshed in England. II cannot be doubted That
Cromwell read these narratives and apsorpeo
| from them the knowledge Of military principles
and tactics which supplied for him the place OF
personal experience,
With a still keener interest did Cromwell
watch the growth OF arbitrary government
! in England. In 1890 he was one OF the many
| gentlemen prosecuted for emitting TO go through
the ceremony Of knighthood. and he finally
had TO pay fiO for his neglect. Pre-
| sumably he also paid Shipmoney. for there 10
| no mention of his opposition TO It among
the State papers. If he refused to pay. the
| Sheriff doubtless distrained upon hs goods
for the required amount, and there the matter
| ended. On another question Cromwell GER
| tainly came into conflict with the local author
tiles, and was brought into collision with the
Kings Council. Up 10 1880 Huntingdon had
been an ancient prescriptive corporation. gov
erned by two baihfs and a common council
! Of twenty-four Inhabitants, who were elected
yearly. On July is Of the year named the town
received a new charter from Charles l.: hence
| forth the government Of the town was TO be
vested in twelve Aldermen elected for life, with a
Mayor chosen annually out Of the twelve, and
a Recorder Complaints were soon heard
that the new charter gave the Mayor and Al
| dermen power to deprive the bureesses Of their
rights in the common land. and 10 levy eKor-
bitant fines on burgesses who refused mu-
nicipal ONCE. Cromwell had assented to the
change. and in the new charter he was appointed
| one Of the threeJusticee OF the Peace for the Dor
oush. But he thought the complaints well
ounded. and made himself the spokesman
Of the popular dissatisfaction On Nov. 2, 1880.
the Privy Council committed Cromwell and one
Of his associates TO custody. On Dec the
VHSt VI TrlfIrfN W IL I'll " w VI INV Tuii
Of Manchester. who, In his report, blamed
Cromwell's conduct. but ordered the charter
70 be amended in three points 10 meet his OBJ
~jections. This quarrel was doubtless one Of
the reasons why Cromwell left Huntingdon.
At 81. Ives and Fly he shove the same zeal TO
defend the rights OF his poorer neighbors, In
1894 a company was incorporated for the drain
age Of the fens around Ely, which were known
-t arl - ~
we're headed by the Earl OF Bedford. were 10
be paid by a share Of the lands they rescued
from the water. In 1897 the reward was claimed.
BY these drainage works the commoners
lost the rights OF pasturage and fishing. which
they had previously enjoyed. and Cromwell
made himself the champion OF their interests
against the "Adventurers.- In 1893 the King
interviewed. declared the work Of drainage
incomplete. and undertook to complete 1t HIM
self. announcing that the inhabitants Of the
district were to continue In possession Of their
lands and common rights till the work was
| really finished. Some years later Cromwell
| came forward In the same way to defend the
rights OF his old neighbors at St Ives. The
waste lands at Somersham near st. Ives had
| been enclosed without the consent OF the COM
moners. and sold TO the Earl Of Manchester.
When the long Parliament met. the aggrteved
commoners petitioned the House Of Commons
for redress. but the Lords interviewed with an
order In Manchester's favor. The commoners
replied by proceeding in a %riotous and warllke
| manner" TO break down the hedges and re-
take possession. Without seeking TO justify
the violence Of the commoners, Cromwell got the
House Of Commons 10 appoint a committee
TO consider the rights Of the case. According
to Hyde, afterward Lord Clarendon. his whole
carriage was so tempestuous and his behavior
so i~nsolent." that the chairman Of the COM
mittee threatened 10 report him 10 the House.
This persistent championship Of the rights
OF peasants and small freeholders was the basis
OF Cromwell's influence In the eastern counties
Every village Hampden looked 10 Cromwell
as a leader. and was ready 10 follow him. In
1913 a royalist newspaper nicknemed him the
Lord Of the Fens," but his popularity with the
enmen began long before the military ex-
plolts which gained him the title.
There is a tradition that Cromwell thought
Of emigrating 10 New England. Mr.. Firth
thinks that there are several grounds for ac-
cepting tho report az true. II he ever enter
tanned such a design It was probably between
1881 and 1895. When he left Huntingdon. in
Nav, 1881. he converted all his land and property
into money. as a man intending 10 emigrate
would naturally do. The time at which this
transaction took place renders II significant.
for. In 1890 and 1881, the Puritan exodus was al
It's height, and most Of the New England col
onists came from East Anglia. In March. 1882,
tho Earl OF Warwick granted the old Connect
icut patent 10 lord Say and his associates,
i among whom was John Hampden. To Mr..
Firth nothing seems more probable than that
Cromwell should have thought OF settling In a
colony whereof his cousin was one OF the pat
entees. II Cromwell. however. wished TO emf.
CRATE, what was il that prevented him? The
eighteenth century story that he was on board
OF one OF the ships stopped by order Of Coun-
oil in May, 1885. Is demonstrably false, for. on
the petition Of the passenger. they we're allowed
TO continue their voyage. A contemporary
story supplies n more credible explanation
II Is that a kinsman died. leaving him a consid.
cradle fortune. and this kinsman Is identified
with Sir Thomas Steward. whose death tool
place In January. 1885. A story which fits In SC
well with known facts, and Is intrinsically prob.
able should not be lightly put aside as a fiction
The year 1893 was the turning point In the his
tory If English Puritanlsm. When the twelve
month began. the King power seemed as firmly
established as his heart could desire. The de.
cision Of the Judges that Shipmoney was Lawful
gave absolute monarchy a legal basis and a van.
taQe ground for any future demands. II IN,
King had n right 10 lew tayes nj will for m,