peculiar and almost preternatural excellence: that by the force of his soul and genius, or of his discipline (in addition to his care of military tactics, exerted in introducing an almost Christian degree of purity and virtue among his troops) he either attracted from all quarters followers that were good and brave to his camp, as to a school not more of military instruction than of religion and piety, or rendered them such by his example; and throughout the whole war, and occasionally during the intervals of peace, in all the fluctuations of party and of events, in spite of much opposition, held and now holds them in,* not by largesses or relaxation of command, but by his sole authority and with their mere pay-a circumstance, in which he may be compared with the Cyruses, Epaminondases, and other first-rate worthies of antiquity. For hence he raised an army as numerous and as well equipped, as was ever before done within so short a period; lessoned to the most perfect obedience, high in the affection of it's fellow-citizens, and not more formidable to it's enemies in the field than admirable for it's behaviour to them out of it; having so forborne all injury to their persons or properties, in comparison with the violence, intemperance, profaneness, and debauchery of their own Royalists, as to make them exult in the change, and hail in * See Hume, upon this "new-modelling" of the Army, Chap. lviii. them a host not of fiends but of friends; a protection to the good, a terror to the bad, and an encouragement to every species of piety and virtue. To you, FAIRFAX, also I should be guilty of flagrant injustice, were I here to omit your name; you, in whom nature and providence have combined, with the truest courage, the highest modesty and the utmost purity of life. You have a peculiar claim, and right to be summoned to a participation of these praises, indeed though, in character and inclination like Scipio Africanus at Liternum, you seek to hide yourself as much as possible in your rural retreat; victor, not only over the enemy, but over ambition and glory, which even the most illustrious of men have been unable to resist. There you enjoy your virtues and your achievements in that most delightful and honourable ease, which is the object of all human exertion, and which (as enjoyed by the heroes of antiquity, after engagements and exploits not su perior to your own) their poetical panegyrists despaired of adequately expressing otherwise, than by representing them as received into heaven and admitted to the banquets of the gods. Whether however considerations of health, as I am most inclined to believe, or some other motive withdrew you from public life, I am perfectly satisfied that nothing could have forced you to relinquish the service of the commonwealth, but a full conviction that in your successor you left her a protector of her liberty, and a supporter and defender of all her rights. For so long as you, Cromwell, are safe, to tremble for the safety of England is to distrust the Deity, whom every one must observe most partial to you and most evidently ranged on your side. But you were at that time exclusively engaged in other military enterprises. Instead of protracting my narration of your exploits however, I will, if possible, despatch it with a brevity proportioned to the rapidity of the exploits themselves. Ireland, with the exception of a single city, was totally lost. Thither you hurried over your troops, in an early engagement crushed the strength of the malcontents, and were daily following up your advantage, when you were suddenly recalled to the Scottish war. Without losing a moment you march against the Scots, then under their King preparing an irruption into England; in about a twelvemonth subjugated and annexed to your country a kingdom, which had been vainly attempted by our monarchs throughout a period of eight hundred years; and pursuing by forced marches the remains of their army, still strong and active, which in a fit of desperation had unexpectedly advanced through England (at that time, almost ungarrisoned) as far as N Worcester,* in one battle you cut them off, and took prisoners nearly the whole of their nobility. In the profound peace which ensued we found you, not however then for the first time, as effective in the cabinet as you had previously been in the field. Your unremitting endeavour in parliament was, to enforce a religious observance of treaties made with the enemy, or a speedy adoption of measures demanded by the interests of the commonwealth. When you saw those measures studiously procrastinated, and beheld individuals anxious about promoting their own interests rather than those of the public, while the many felt that they were baulked of their hopes and sacrificed to the overgrown power of the few, the delinquents themselves attending to no warnings, you put a period to their domination. A new parliament This victory, his crowning mercy,' as well as that of Dunbar, was gained on his favourite third of September, his birthday. He carried his superstition, indeed (or rather, perhaps, hoped to carry the superstition of his soldiers) to the length of believing, that whatever he enterprised upon that day, was destined to be successful. The parliament of 1654 here alluded to, in which the small boroughs, as "most exposed to influence and corruption," had no representatives (270 of it's 400 members being chosen by the counties, and the rest elected by London and the more considerable corporations) was summoned upon this day; and upon this day four years afterward-as if to mock his calculations!-the Protector himself died. is summoned, the right of suffrage having been * Their minimum of duration, " five months," he computed to be 140 days; and on the expiration of that sλaxisper of constitutional existence, he made them (as we learn from Hume) a tedious, confused, angry harangue, and dismissed them. 이 |