The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1908-03-12
The Mother of Oliver Cromwell.

(By Rev Thos. B. Gregory.)
A great man, in the most stall
wart sense of the word, was Oliver
Cromwell
Illustrious men have declared
that the grim old Protector was the
"mightiest human force that was
ever directed toward moral end,"
and it is not likely that the verdict
is ever to be reversed.
So long as England lives, the
memory Of Cromwell will live
along with it, as the man who, by
his amazing strength of will and
purpose, lifted her from the "dead
levelto the living perpendicular, {"
and caused her to be feared and
respected s'from the rising of the
sun unto the going down of the
same.
Of the mother of this remarka-
bic man, Foster in his "Life of Oil
yer Cromwell" says: "She was
ready for the demands of fortune
to its extremist turns; of spirit and
energy equal to her mi'dness and
patience; who, with the labor of
her own hands, gave dowries to
five daughters sufficient to marry
them into families as honorable as,
but more wealthy than their own;
whose single pride was honesty,
and whose passion was love; who
preserved in the gorgeous palace at
Whitehall the simpler tastes that
distinguished her in the old brew
cry home at Huntingdon; and whose
only care, midst all the sp'endor,
was for the safety of her beloved
son in his dangerous eminence.
Elizabeth Steward, Mrs. Robert
Cromwell, the mother Of Oliver,
was descended from Alexander, the
lord high steward of Scotland, the
ancestor Of the whole family of the
Stewards.
Thus, by one Of the most singu-
lar condolences of history, Crom-
well is known to have been ninth
cousin to the king whose head he
unceremoniouSly cut off.
To Robert Cromwell, the plain
and simple country gentleman,
Cromwell owed but little, so far as
the making Of his character and for
tune was concerned.
1t was from Elizabeth Steward
that he took the color of his spirit
and the trend Of her character
the seriousness, the will, the high
moral aim, and the deep, religious
zeal which made him what he was.
Cromwell has been a mystery to
most of his biographers, and the
same difficulty might have pre-
sented itself to the student of his
mothers character. Int nsel y
religious, and yet a thorough woman
Of the world, dreamy and practical,
Of fiery temperament, and yetlable
to check herself and maintain her
poise Of mind even under the. most
crying conditions; stern and un
yielding, of iron will and rigid dis
cipline, size impressed all with a.
sense Of her loving kindness and
tender mercy>
When fortune called her from
her humble home in Huntingdon to
the palatial quarters at Whitehall,
she brought along with her, and
kept with her tbs old-time SIM
plicity and truth.
The palace was not able to turn
her head, or divert her from that
which had ever been the main pur-
pose of her life-the service Of
God, as she understood that ser
vice.
With all her soul she believed in
her son and in the righteousness of
his work; believed that with his
cold Ironsides" he was shaking
up England for the good of man and
the glory Of God, and it is pleasant
to reflect that she lived to see the
work we'll rounded out and com
.pleted.
There is a happy mingling Of the
sublime and the pathetic in the old
mothers parting words to her son,
as given by the historian.
Says Thurloe: "My lord protec-
tors mother, of 94 years old, died
last night. A little before her death
she gave him her blessing in these
words: The Lord cause His face.
to shine upon you, and comfort you
in all your adversities, and enable
you to do great things for the glory
Of your Most High God, and 5e a
a relief unto his people. NY son,
/ leave my heart with thee. Good
night. -
Warfod