born at Huntingdon, April 25, 1599, and descended of the family of Williams, of Glamorgan in Wales, which assumed the name of Cromwell by marrying with a daughter of Cromwell earl of Essex, in the reign of king Henry VIII. The seat of the eldest branch of the family was called Hinchinbrook, now belonging to the earl of Sandwich, who were reputed to possess an estate of 30,0001. a year. Oliver, who was descended of a younger branch, was educated in Cambridge, and from thence became a student of Lincoln's-Inn, being a wild and extravagant youth till about the thirty-fifth year of his age, when he quitted his irregular life, and became remarkably sober. In the year 1640, he was chosen representative in parliament for the town of Cambridge, and sat two years undistinguished in the house, as a mere country gentleman, appearing (says Sir Philip Warwick) in a plain cloth suit of clothes made by a country taylor, his linen not very clean, his band unfashionable, his hat without an hat band, and his sword close by his side; his countenance was swoln and reddish, his voice hoarse and untunable, but his elocution was full of fervor and warmth, and he was well heard in the house. His person somewhat exceeded the middle stature,* but was well proportioned, compact, and strong. He had a masculine countenance,a sparkling eye, a manly stern look,a vigorous constitution, and was an enemy to ease and excess; the motto upon his coat of arms was, pax quæritur bello.

* Sir John Reresby calls Cromwell, "one of the greatest and bravest men, had his cause been good, the world ever saw. His figure did not come up to his character; he was indeed a likely person, but not handsome, nor had he a very bold look with him. He was plain in his apparel, and rather negligent than not. Tears he had at will, and was doubtless the greatest dissembler on earth." Memoirs, p. 2. Since Mr. Neal wrote, various historians have reviewed the actions and character of Cromwell. Amongst whom the faithful and judicious Dr. Harris deserves particular mention. The candid and copious account of this extraordinary man, in the first edition of the "Biographia Britannica," has been enriched with new and curious matter by the learned and accurate pen, which has conducted the second edition. The history of the Cromwell family has been accurately investigated by Mr. Noble, in his "Memoirs of the Protectoral House of Cromwell:" not to mention other writers, who have elucidated this subject. To other particulars, with which Dr. Kippis has improved the article Cromwell, in the Biogr. Britan. is added an ample exhibition of the characters of him, drawn by foreigners and natives. Ed.

Upon the breaking out of the civil war he took arms for the parliament, and though he was forty-three years of age before he drew a sword, he soon became colonel of a regiment of chosen men, who declared they fought not for gain, but for the cause of religion and liberty. He always went to prayer before battle, and returned solemn thanks for his success afterwards. He was careful to promote an exact discipline in the army, and would not have pardoned his own brother, (says my author*) if he had found him plundering the country people. The army had not an officer who faced danger with greater intrepidity, or more eagerly sought occasions to distinguish his personal valor. He had a great presence of mind in the heat of action, and taught his soldiers to fight in a more desperate manner than usual, not allowing them to discharge their musquets, till they were so near the enemy as to be sure of doing execution. His reputation rose so fast, that he quickly became a major-general, then lieutenant-general under Fairfax, and at last supplanted him. His troops believed themselves invincible. under his conduct; he never lost a battle where he had the chief command. The victory of Marston-Moor was chiefly ascribed to his valor. The reduction of Ireland in less than a year made him the terror of his enemies; and the battles of Dunbar and Worcester completed his martial glory.

How far his usurping the protectorship of the three nations, without the previous consent of a free parliament, was the result of ambition or necessity, has been considered already; but if we view him as a statesman, he was an able politician, a steady resolute governor; and though he had more numerous and powerful enemies than any man of the age, he was never intimidated, having a peculiar art of keeping men quiet, and giving them by turns hopes of his favor. He had a wonderful knowledge of mankind, and an inimitable sagacity and penetration. If there was a man in England who excelled in any faculty or science, he would find him out, and reward him according to his merit. In nothing was his good understanding better discovered (says bishop Burnet) than in seeking out able and worthy men for all employments, which gave a general satisfaction. * Carrington's Life of Cromwell, p. 243. Welwood's Mem. p. 104. VOL. IV.

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By these methods, in the space of four or five years, he carried the reputation and glory of the English nation as high as it was capable of being raised. He was equally dreaded by France, Spain, and the United Provinces, who condescended to servile compliances, to obtain his friendship; Charles Gustavus, king of Sweden, thought himself honored by his alliance; and cardinal Mazarine said, that nothing but the king of France's having the small-p -pox could have hindered him from coming over to England, that he might have the honor of waiting on one of the great

est men.

The protector had an uncommon command of his passions, and knew how to behave in character upon all occasions; though in private life he would be jocose and merry with his inferiors; yet no prince was more jealous of his dignity on public occasions. His ambassadors in foreign courts had all the respects paid them that our kings ever had. All Europe trembled at his name! And though he could converse with no foreigners but in broken Latin, yet no man ever had better intelligence, nor understood the views and interests of the several courts of Europe better than himself. He had spies at Madrid and Paris, and was so happy as to fix upon persons who never failed him. Mr. Algernon Sydney, who was not inclined to think or speak well of kings, commended him to bishop Burnet, as one who had just notions of public liberty; and though he made some severe and cruel laws against the episcopal clergy, it was not for their religion, but because they were open and declared enemies to his person and government.

The protector was a protestant, but affected to go under no denomination or party: He had chaplains of all persua sions; and though he was by principle an independent, he esteemed all reformed churches as part of the catholic church; and without aiming to establish any tenets by force or violence, he witnessed, on all occasions, an extreme zeal for the protestant religion, and a just regard for liberty of conscience.

As to his moral character, his greatest enemies have not charged him with any public vices. Dr. Welwood admits, that he was not addicted to swearing, gluttony, drunkenness, gaming, avarice, or the love of women, but kept close

to his marriage bed. Nor is he chargeable with covetousness, for it has been computed (says the writer of his life†) that he distributed forty thousand pounds a year out of his privy purse to charitable uses. He promoted virtuous men, and was inflexible in his punishment of ill actions. His court was regulated according to a most strict discipline (says Mr. Eachard) where every vice was banished, or severely punished. He maintained a constant appearance of piety, and was regular in his private and public devotions: He retired constantly every day to read the scriptures and prayer; and some who watched him narrowly have reported, that after he had read and expounded a chapter, he prostrated himself with his face on the ground, and with tears poured out his soul to God for a quarter of an hour. He was a strict observer of the sabbath, and an encourager of goodness and austerity of life.* Mr. Baxter admits, that," he kept as much honesty and godliness as his cause and interest would allow; that he had a zeal for religion, meant honestly in the main, and was pious in the main course of his life, till prosperity corrupted him.”

But with all these good qualities it is certain, the protector was a strong enthusiast, and did not take up his re

† Carrington, p. 248.

§ An observation of Dr. Gibbons, as just in itself and doing honor to Cromwell, deserves to be mentioned here. It is this; "that it does not appear that in the height of his power he ever diverted any part of the national property to the private emolument of himself or family, as he left them possest of the small estates only which he enjoyed before he arrived to the protectorate." Funeral Sermon for William Cromwell, p. 48. Ed.

To this must be ascribed his prohibition of all theatrical exhibitions. There was, indeed, a remarkable exception, in his permitting, from hatred to the Spaniards, the representation of a performance entitled, The Cruelty of the Spaniards in Peru." Roscius Anglicanus, p. 29, in the Literary Museum, 8vo. printed in 1792.

That his religious character was not originally assumed. however it might afterwards be abused, to carry political views, and was prior to his dignity and power, it has been observed, is evinced from his letters written long before that period, and from what Milton says of him ; "that being arrived to manly and mature age, which he spent as a private person, and noted for nothing than the cultivation of pure religion and integrity of life, he was grown wealthy in retirement at home." Gibbons's Funeral Sermon for William Cromwell, p. 47, 8. Ed.

ligion upon rational or solid principles, which led him into sundry mistakes, not supported by reason or scripture. One of his favorite principles was a particular faith; that is, if any thing was strongly impressed upon his mind in prayer, he apprehended it came immediately from God, and was a rule of action; but if there were no impressions, but a flatness in his devotions, it was a denial. Upon this maxim he is said to suffer the late king to be put to death, in an arbitrary and illegal mauner. Another maxim was, that in extraordinary cases something extraor dinary, or beyond the common rules of justice, may be done; that the moral laws, which are binding in ordinary cases, may then be dispensed with; and that PRIVATE JUSTICE must give way to PUBLIC NECESSITY. Which was the protector's governing principle in all his unwarrantable stretches of power. A third principle by which the protector was misled, was, his determining the goodness of a cause by the success. An appeal to the sword was with him an appeal to God; and as victory inclined, God owned or discountenanced the cause.-It is impossible that a man's conduct could be just or consistent, while it was directed by such mistaken principles.

It has been further objected to the protector's character, that he was notoriously guilty of hypocrisy and dissimu lation both to God and man; that he mocked God by the pretence of piety and devotion, and by long prayers full of hypocritical zeal. But who can penetrate the heart, to see whether the outward actions flow from an inward principle? With regard to men, it is certain the protector knew how to address their passions, and talk to them in their own way; and if in his devotions he uttered with his mouth what his heart never meant, no one can vindicate him: But men are not slightly to be arraigned (says Rapin) for the inward motions of their heart, which pass all human knowledge. Besides, it is not easy to conceive the watchful eyes that were upon him, and the vast difficulties he had to contend with. Queen Elizabeth's dissimulation has been extolled, for the very same reason that the protector's is condemned: If therefore such a conduct was necessary to govern the several parties, there is nothing greatly blame-worthy in it, (says the same