The Buccaneer - A Tale

Poesy! thou sweet'st content

That e'er Heaven to mortals lent,

Though they as a trifle leave thee

Whose dull thoughts cannot conceive thee;

Though thou be to them a scorn

That to nought but earth are born;

Let my life no longer be

Than I am in love with thee.

GEORGE WITHER

There are two things that to a marvellous degree bring people under

subjection--moral and corporeal fear. The most dissolute are held in

restraint by the influence of moral worth, and there are few who would

engage in a quarrel, if they were certain that defeat or death would be

the consequence. Cromwell obtained, and we may add, maintained his

ascendency over the people of England, by his earnest and continually

directed efforts towards these two important ends. His court was a rare

example of irreproachable conduct, from which all debauchery and

immorality were banished; while such was his deep and intimate, though

mysterious, acquaintance with every occurrence throughout the

Commonwealth, its subjects had the certainty of knowing that, sooner or

later, whatever crimes they committed would of a surety reach the ear of

the Protector. His natural abilities must always have been of the

highest order, though in the early part of his career he discovered none

of those extraordinary talents that afterwards gained him so much

applause, and worked so upon the affections of the hearers and standers

by.

His mind may be compared to one of those valuable manuscripts that

had long been rolled up and kept hidden from vulgar eyes, but which

exhibits some new proof of wisdom at each unfolding. It has been well

said by a philosopher, whose equal the world has not known since his

day, "that a place showeth the man." Of a certainty Cromwell had no

sooner possessed the opportunity so to do, than he showed to the whole

world that he was destined to govern. "Some men achieve greatness, some

men are born to greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them."

With Cromwell, greatness was achieved. He was the architect of his own

fortunes, owing little to, what is called, "chance," less to patronage,

and still less to crime, if we except the one sad blot upon the page of

his own history, as connected with that of his country. There appears in

his character but a small portion of that which is evil, blended with

much that is undoubtedly good. Although his public speeches were, for

the most part, ambiguous--leaving others to pick out his meaning--or

more frequently still, having no meaning to pick out--being words,

words, words--strung of mouldy sentences, scriptural phrases, foolish

exclamations, and such like; yet, when necessary, he showed that he

could sufficiently command his style, delivering himself with so much

energy, pith, propriety, and strength of expression, that it was

commonly said of him, under such circumstances, "every word he spoke was

a thing." But the strongest indication of his vast abilities was, the

extraordinary tact with which he entered into, dissected, and

scrutinised the nature of human kind. No man ever dived into the manners

and minds of those around him with greater penetration, or more rapidly

discovered their natural talents and tempers. If he chanced to hear of a

person fit for his purpose, whether as a minister, a soldier, an

artisan, a preacher, or a spy--no matter how previously obscure--he

sent for him forthwith, and employed him in the way in which he could be

made most useful, and answer best the purpose of his employer. Upon this

most admirable system (a system in which, unhappily, he has had but few

imitators among modern statesmen,) depended in a great degree his

success. His devotion has been sneered at; but it has never been proved

to have been insincere. With how much more show of justice may we

consider it to have been founded upon a solid and upright basis, when we

recollect that his whole outward deportment spoke its truth. Those who

decry him as a fanatic ought to bethink themselves that religion was

the chivalry of the age in which he lived. Had Cromwell been born a few

centuries earlier, he would have headed the Crusades, with as much

bravery, and far better results than our noble-hearted, but wrong-headed

"Coeur de Lion." It was no great compliment that was passed on him by

the French minister, when he called the Protector "the first captain of

the age." His courage and conduct in the field were undoubtedly

admirable: he had a dignity of soul which the greatest dangers and

difficulties rather animated than discouraged, and his discipline and

government of the army, in all respects, was the wonder of the world. It

was no diminution of this part of his character that he was wary in his

conduct, and that, after he was declared Protector, he wore a

coat-of-mail concealed beneath his dress. Less caution than he made use

of, in the place he held, and surrounded as he was by secret and open

enemies, would have deserved the name of negligence. As to his political

sincerity, which many think had nothing to do with his religious

opinions, he was, to the full, as honest as the first or second Charles.