pastures in Calabria, and in both mountainous and maritime | situations through all Sicily, where its stigmas are collected instead of those of the true saffron. Its blossoms are sweetscented, and are known at first sight from the stigmas not hanging out of the flower, but standing upright and inclosed within it. The tube of its flower is very long. 11. C. Thomasii, a Calabrian plant, found in mountain woods. It is said to have coarsely-netted root-coats, fragrant saffron-like truncated stigmas inclosed within the flower, which appears long after the leaves, and has a bearded throat. Exists in English gardens, but is very rare. 12. C. nudiflorus. The flowers appear without the leaves, and the root-coats are slightly netted. The stigmas are divided into many deep narrow segments. The plant is not rare in many parts of Europe, flowering about the time of the Colchicum, to a small species of which it at first sight bears much resemblance. C. speciosus, multifidus, medius, are mere varieties or synonymous names of this plant. 13. C. ecrotinus. This requires to be compared with C. odorus, to which it approaches very nearly, if it be not the same thing. For a florist's account of the varieties of spring crocuses cultivated in the gardens of this country, see the Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London, vol. vii. CROESUS (Kooicoç), the last of the Mermnadæ, son of Alyattes, succeeded his father Alyattes as king of Lydia at the age of thirty-five, B. C. 560. (Herod. i. 7 and 26.) But before this time he seems to have been associated with his father in the government. (Clinton, Fast. Hel., p. 297; and Larcher on Herod., i. 27.) He was contemporary with Pisistratus, tyrant of Athens (Herod. i. 59), and with Anaxandrides, king of Sparta (i. 67). He attacked and reduced to subjection all the Ionians and Æolians in Asia (i. 26), and all the nations west of the Halys (i. 28). The increase of the Persian power led him, after consulting various oracles in Europe, Asia, and Africa, to form an alliance with Amasis, king of Egypt (i. 77), and with the Lacedæmonians (i. 69), as the most powerful people of Hellas, about 554 B. C. (Clinton, F. H., p. 207). He subsequently attacked and conquered the Cappadocian Syrians beyond the Halys, and engaged in battle with Cyrus, in which however neither was victorious. He returned to Sardis, intending to wait till the following year to renew the war; but Cyrus, anticipating his designs, attacked him in his own capital, defeated him, and took Sardis B. c. 546. Croesus was made prisoner and was placed on a pile to be burnt, but Cyrus relented, and the fire was extinguished. He reigned fourteen years. After his captivity he became Cyrus's favourite companion and adviser in his future wars. When Cyrus died he recommended Croesus to his son and successor Cambyses, as one in whom he might confide as a friend. Croesus however did not long continue in the favour of Cambyses: he took upon himself on one occasion to admonish the king, believing him to be insane, and he had great difficulty in escaping with his life. Little is known of him after this period. While king he was visited by Solon, and Herodotus (i. 30-33) records a long conversation between them on wealth and happiness. The riches of Croesus were so great that his name has almost passed into a proverb. It is said that he had a son who was born deaf and dumb, but who gained the faculty of speech by the effort which he made to cry out when he saw a Persian going to kill his father at the capture of Sardis. (Herodotus; Plutarch, Life of Solon.) ford; his Exercise consisted of a Latin and an English Ode, CROMLECH, a large stone placed in the manner of a table, but in an inclined position, upon other stones set up on end. Monuments of this description are numerous in Anglesea, where two of the largest Cromlechs in Britain remain at Plas Newydd. Many others are seen in Wales. They are likewise found in Scotland, Ireland, Jersey, Britany, and, in fact, wherever the religion of the Druids prevailed. Cromlechs are also described to have been found both in North and South America. Borlase, in his Natural History of Cornwall,' suggests that they were sepulchral. But Rowlands, in his Mona Antiqua,' King, Toland, and numerous other of our best antiquaries, consider them the remains of altars used for idolatrous sacrifices. They were usually placed in the centre of a circle of stones, the Druid temple; and had a single stone, of large size, occasionally near them, supposed to have served as a pedestal for some deity. CROMWELL, THOMAS, was born at Putney, near London, where his father was a blacksmith, and afterwards a brewer. He was taught reading, writing, and a little Latin; and as soon as he grew up went to the continent, where he learned several foreign languages. He became clerk in an extensive factory at Antwerp; from whence he was taken to Rome (1510) by some citizens of Boston in Lincolnshire, who thought that he would be of assistance to them in some business that they had with the pope. During this journey he learned by heart Erasmus's translation of the New Testament, and he continued to improve himself during his residence in Italy. On his return he was received into Cardinal Wolsey's house, became his solicitor, and the chief agent in the foundation of his colleges at Oxford and Ipswich. He was also returned as a member to the House of Commons, where he increased his fame by his defence of Wolsey, who had there been indicted for treason. After the cardinal's disgrace, Cromwell was taken into the service of the king: in 1531 he was knighted, and made privy councillor and master of the jewel-house. He now rapidly rose to the most important offices in the state. In 1532 he became Clerk of the Hanaper in the Court of Chancery, and afterwards Chancellor of the Exchequer: in 1534 he was Principal Secretary of State, Master of the Rolls, and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge; in 1535, CROFT, WILLIAM (Mus. Doc.), who as a composer of Visitor-General of English monasteries, and in 1536 Keeper cathedral music has no superior, was born in Warwickshire of the Privy Seal. He now resigned the Mastership of the in 1677, and educated in the Chapel-Royal under Dr. Blow. Rolls, and was created Baron Cromwell of Okeham in RutHis earliest preferment was to the place of organist of St. landshire, and appointed Vicar-General and Vicegerent, in Anne's, Soho, when an organ was for the first time erected all religious matters the next in authority to the king, who in that church. In 1700 he was admitted a gentleman-ex- was now the supreme head of the English church. His traordinary of the Chapel-Royal; and in 1704 was appointed friendship with Cranmer was intimate, and their views rejoint-organist of the same with Jeremiah Clark, on whose specting the reformation very similar. It being Cromwell's decease, in 1707, he obtained the whole place. In 1708 he object to destroy the pope's authority, he circulated new succeeded Dr. Blow as Master of the Children and Com- articles of faith, and enjoined the clergy to preach the poser to the Chapel-Royal, and also as organist of West- king's supremacy, to remove images from their altars, and minster Abbey. In 1711 he published, but without his to promote the religious education of all young persons, name, a volume containing the words of the anthems used teaching them the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten by the three London choirs, with a preface, giving a brief Commandments. He commanded English Bibles to be history of English church-music; in which, on the authority placed in the churches, and took active means for the disof Dean Aldrich, he ascribes the anthem, 'O Lord, the solution of the monasteries. These alterations, together Maker of all things!' to Henry VIII., and mentions Tallis with the great increase of his wealth, some of which it was as famed throughout Europe for his compositions. In 1715 suspected that he obtained by dishonest means, rendered Croft was created Doctor in Music by the Univers 'ty of Ox-him extremely unpopular, so that there were not wanting many enemies wno endeavoured to prejudice the king against him. The king's esteem for him could not however be shaken in 1537 he was appointed Chief Justice of all Forests beyond Trent, and in August in the same year was elected Knight of the Garter, and nominated Dean of Wells. The long list of Cromwell's titles and official appointments is still far from completed. In 1538 he was made Constable of Carisbrook Castle, and obtained a grant of the castle and lordship of Okeham. About this time he issued various injunctions [CRANMER] to the clergy, by one of which parish-registers were established; and in 1539, after having received from the king several monastic manors and valuable estates, was created Earl of Essex, and named Lord Chamberlain of England: at the same time Gregory, his son, obtained the barony of Okeham. died; but it is very probable that he was a Lutheran, and that he used the term Catholic Faith (which some have held was intentionally ambiguous in his speech and afterwards in Cranmer's) in the Lutheran meaning of the term. Cromwell was no patriot: his own interest, elevation, and aggrandizement seem always to have been uppermost in his thoughts. He was ambitious, unscrupulous, rapacious, hypocritical, and suspicious. To counterbalance these evil qualities he had few virtues. He is said to have shown cruelty in the condemnation and execution of some heretics, but he could scarce have been without benevolence, for about 200 persons (Stowe's Survey) were fed twice a day at his gate. He had a good understanding, and a very retentive memory, and his attention to business was frequent and assiduous. He was the promoter of many useful alterations in the laws, and especially in those respecting the church. These were his chief merits. In passing judgment upon him, the remembrance of the reckless tyrannical caprice of his master, of the rapidity of his own advancement, together with the licentiousness of the times, should enhance the value of his merits, and temper our condemnation of his crimes. (Fox's Acts and Monuments; Stow's Annals, Strype's Memorials; Lord Herbert's and other Histories of England; Burnet's Reform.; Collier's Ecclesias. Hist.; the Biog. Brit., &c. &c.) Hitherto there had been little check to the career of Cromwell's prosperity: his favour at court had always been sufficient to stifle any popular complaints, but he now became aware that both Cranmer and himself were declining in the royal estimation. Gardiner (bishop of Winchester) and his party had gained some ascendancy over the king, and in proportion as the power of these advocates of the Roman Catholic faith increased, the influence of the reformers declined, and both they and their doctrines became unacceptable at court. In order to regain his former ground, or at least to intrench himself firmly in the powerful position which he still retained, Cromwell lost no opportunity of promoting CROMWELL, OLIVER, the son of Robert Cromwell, Henry's marriage with Anne of Cleves, taking care to set and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Richard Stuart, before the king, as often as circumstances permitted, the was born in St. John's parish in the town of Huntingdon, many advantages which would arise from such a union. on the 25th of April, 1599, and named after his uncle and The cause of Cromwell's great zeal was this: Anne and all godfather, Sir Oliver Cromwell, a worthy member of his her friends were Lutherans, and Cromwell counted upon antient and respectable family. He grew up a stubborn great support from a queen of his own choice, whose religious mischievous boy, so little inclined to sedentary occupation, opinions were in direct opposition to the Roman Catholics. that when in 1616 he exchanged a school at Huntingdon The complete failure of this scheme became the ruin of its for Sidney College, in the neighbouring university of Camcontriver. An aversion to the promoter of the marriage bridge, he had made no great progress in his studies. At quickly followed the king's disgust and disappointment at his the death of his father, which occurred soon after he went ugly bride, and Henry now willingly opened his ears to the to college, he was removed from the university by his flood of complaints which were poured into them from every mother, who in the changed state of her circumstances, quarter. To the laity Cromwell was hateful, on account thought it more prudent to enter her son at Lincoln's Inn, of the oppressive subsidies that he had raised notwithstand- that he might follow the profession of the law. To such a ing the large sums which had accrued from the dissolution grave study however Oliver did not feel inclined. With of the monasteries; to the nobility he was still more little intention to use them for their proper purpose, he took odious, on account of the titles and power that he had ob- possession of his chambers: the vices of the town were new tained notwithstanding the meanness of his birth; and to to him, and being no longer restrained by the vigilance of the Roman Catholics he was an object of aversion and jea- his father, he fell into profligate habits, and became adlousy, on account of the Protestant doctrines that he held dicted to gambling. Two or three years afterwards, when and promulgated. As soon then as it was apparent that he returned to Huntingdon, he still continued to live so the capricious king, who had elevated him from an humble dissolute a life that he forfeited the friendship of his uncle individual to be the most powerful subject in the realm, was Sir Oliver Cromwell. His mind however soon became no longer willing to support him, his downfall was certain. uneasy; the diminution of his fortune and compunction for The numerous important acts of his administration supplied his conduct weighed upon his spirits, and on a sudden there his enemies with abundant proofs of malversation and trea- appeared a great alteration in his life. His companions He was arrested on the 10th of June, 1540, and and their extravagances no longer pleased him; gay were committed to prison. The letters that he wrote to the king superseded by grave thoughts, and his attention frequently praying for pardon were disregarded, though the king was rested on religious subjects. This change restored to him touched by them, and read them thrice over: he was ac- the countenance of his friends; and his relations, the Barcused on the 17th of June in the House of Lords, which ringtons and the Hampdens, interested themselves in arsent the bill of attainder down to the House of Commons ranging an union between Oliver, who had now completed on the 19th. Here some objections were raised against the his twenty-first year, and Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir bill; but after a delay of ten days a new bill was framed James Bourchier, a lady wanting in personal attractions, by the Commons, which the Lords afterwards passed. This but virtuous, sensible, and possessed of a moderate fortune. bill contained twelve articles of impeachment (Burnet, Hist. Soon after his marriage, his attachment to the Puritans Ref. vol. i.), accusing him, among other crimes, of being first appeared, and his house at St. Ives became the retreat 'the most false and corrupt traitor and deceiver that had of the disaffected clergy. As the nation was extremely been known in that reign,' 'of being a detestable heretic,' dissatisfied with the court, and Oliver Cromwell's aversion and of having acquired innumerable sums of money and to it was known, he was elected member for the borough treasure by oppression, bribery, and extortion.' To these of Huntingdon in 1628: this parliament was of short duraaccusations he was not allowed to answer in court, for fear, tion. The king, by its impolitic speedy dissolution, still as it may be supposed, that he would prove the king's further irritated his enemies. Cromwell's house was more orders, directions, or consent for doing many things of which than ever frequented by Puritan preachers and their he was accused. He was kept in close custody for six weeks, hearers. His opinions became so deeply rooted, that his when any hope that he might have entertained of a re-hospitality to those who were of the same way of thinking prieve was put an end to; the charms of Catherine Howard increased his expenses until his circumstances became again and the endeavours of the duke of Norfolk and the bishop so much embarrassed that a portion of his property was neof Winchester prevailed, and the king signed a warrant for cessarily sold. Whether, after this sale, he was connected his execution, which took place on Tower Hill on the 28th with a brewery is not clear: it is certain however that he of July, 1540. Thus fell this great minister, of whom, as became a farmer at St. Ives, but having no knowledge of indeed of most of his contemporaries, very opposite charac-agriculture, this speculation only increased his financial ters have been handed down to us by historians. His virtues are greatly magnified by the advocates of the Reformation, his vices by its opponents. It appears doubtful, from a speech that he made at his death, in which religion he son. difficulties. Sir Thomas Stuart, his maternal uncle, dying (1636), Oliver became possessed under his will of property in the Isle of Ely amounting to nearly 500l. a year. His fortunes were thus partially retrieved: nevertheless in the Z 2 hope of better providing for his children, he determined in 1637 to emigrate to America, and having taken a passage to New England in a ship then lying in the Thames, embarked with his whole family. The vessel, however, was detained by a proclamation forbidding such embarkations, unless under a license from the government, which he knew that he should be unable to procure. Religion had at this time a very strong influence upon his mind; poor as he still was, we find that, from motives of conscience, he returned sums that in his youth he had won by gambling. He lived at Ely in retirement with his wife and children; but notwithstanding he saw few persons of importance, the activity and vigour of his understanding became generally known his open advocacy of principles opposed to the government, and the zeal with which he resisted an unpopular attempt o drain some of the neighbouring Cambridgeshire fens, attracted the favourable regard of many public men. In such esteem was he held, that he was proposed for the representation of the town of Cambridge, and clected, though as some say by intrigue (Noble's Mem., vol. i., iii.) in opposition to Counsellor Mewtis, the court candidate, both to the short-lived parliament of 1640, and afterwards to the Long Parliament, by which it was speedily followed. Cromwell was now in the middle age of life; his health was strong, and his judgment matured so far circumstances were favourable to his farther elevation. But he had deficiencies, not only in fortune, but in person and in knowledge, which precluded all foresight of the height to which he would rise. He had neither the address nor the appearance of a gentleman. He had resided so little in London, that he was wholly unacquainted with any of the leading men at court; he knew nothing of the ways of parliament or the method of government, and was altogether ignorant of foreign policy. The descriptions given of him on his entrance to the House of Commons, at the beginning of the Long Parliament, display in a striking manner his unpolished rusticity. Sir Philip Warwick gives the following minute account:- The first time that I ever took no tice of him was in the beginning of the parliament held in November, 1640, when I vainly thought myself a courtly young gentleman (for we courtiers valued ourselves much upon our good clothes). I came one morning into the house well clad, and perceived a gentleman speaking (whom I knew not), very ordinarily appareled; for it was a plain cloth suit, which seemed to have been made by an ill country tailor; his linen was plain, and not very clean; and I remember a speck or two of blood upon his little band, which was not much larger than his collar; his hat was without a hat-band; his stature was of a good size; his sword stuck close to his side; his countenance swollen and reddish, his voice sharp and untunable, and his eloquence full of fervour.' With the exception of his eloquence, this probably was a correct picture. Cromwell spoke certainly with fervour; but his biographers must be credited in their assertion that he had not the smallest pretension to rhetoric, but was confused and unintelligible in his address. In a somewhat intemperate sermon written after the Protector's death, Dr. South speaks of his appearance when attending the Long Parliament. Who,' says he, that beheld such a bankrupt beggarly fellow as Cromwell first entering the parliament-house, with a threadbare torn cloak and a greasy hat (and perhaps neither of them paid for), could have suspected that in the space of so few years he should, by the murder of one king and the banishment of another, ascend the throne, be invested in the royal robes, and want nothing of the state of a king but the changing his hat into a crown.' He had as yet had no opportunity for displaying the extent of his energy and abilities; the time was at hand when they were to be proved. < For an account of the discontents in the kingdom and the causes of the civil war, we must refer our readers to the copious histories of the time. The tyranny and maladministration of the weak and obstinate Charles became the subject (1641) of a violent remonstrance from his parliament, which at once insured their rupture with the king. Cromwell, now associated in the councils of Hampden, Pym, and the rest of the democratic leaders, strenuously supported this remonstrance; and in 1642, when the civil war commenced, eagerly raised a troop of horse, under the authority of the parliament, with which he immediately took the field in their cause. Notwithstanding the comparatively advanced age at which he first buckled on the sword, all writers bear testimony to the military abilities that he displayed throughout the succession of battles between the parliamentary and royalist forces. At Marston Moor, at Stamford, and in the second battle of Newbury, he was especially distinguished. With the title of lieutenant-general of the horse he soon became, under Fairfax, the chief mover of a victorious army; and so valuable were his services considered by the parliament, that he was exempted from obedience to the self-denying ordinance'an injunction which excluded the members of either house from holding any command in the army. This measure was brought forward by Cromwell's friends, who trusted to his popularity in the parliament, and the necessity that it had for his services, to procure an exception in his favour. The result fully answerel their expectations; his rivals were set aside, his power more widely spread, and a greater scope given to his ambition. At the battle of Naseby (June, 1645) Cromwell commanded the right wing, and Ireton, his son-in-law, the left; the main body of the royalists was commanded by the king in person. As the troops were nearly equal, the event of the day was looked for by each side with anxious hope. Ireton was repulsed early in the day; but Cromwell and Fairfax, taking advantage of Prince Rupert's temerity, totally dispersed the king's infantry, and took his artillery and ammunition. Elated with victory, the parliamentary army, under the same leaders, vigorously prosecuted their success, until they had reduced most of the royalists in the west. Cromwell now (1646) found leisure to return to London; the thanks of the parliament were voted to him; his services were pub licly acknowledged, and rewarded by a grant of 25001. a year, to be raised from Lord Winchester's estates. The king, who had passed the winter (1645-6) at Oxford, in a condition to the last degree disastrous and melancholy, in the month of May escaped from that city in disguise, and threw himself upon the protection of the Scottish army, then encamped at Newark. After some negotiations, he was basely delivered up by the Scots to the parliamentary commissioners, who kept him prisoner at Holdenby, in Northamptonshire. In proportion as the king's power had diminished, the division between the Independents and the Presbyterians had become daily more apparent. In the army, the majority, with Cromwell at their head, were Independents; in the parliament, Presbyterians. Each body, jealous of the other's power, began to strive for the mastery. At length the army rebelled against the parliament; and Cromwell, aware of the advantage that would be gained by the possession of the king's person, directed one Joyce, a young and enterprising soldier, to rescue the king from the hands of the commissioners of the parliament, and to deliver him to the army (1647). This scheme was quickly put into execution; Cromwell maintaining with refined hypocrisy that he deeply regretted the disaffeetion which the army showed towards the parliament. The members, however, were not deceived. The Presbyterian leaders resolved, as soon as he should come into the House of Commons, to accuse the lieutenant-general of having promoted this schism, and to commit him to the Tower. Intelligence of these proceedings was quickly carried to the army; and Cromwell, perceiving that the crisis was desperate, and that some decided step must instantly be taken, hastened to the camp, where he dexterously procured himself to be invested with the chief command, and then, threatening the unpopular parliament, marched southwards to St. Alban's. As long as there remained any balance between the rival powers in the state, each sought the support of the royalists, and the king's cause appeared not altogether hopeless; he was courted by the Presbyterians and deceitfully flattered by Cromwell. But when the leaders of the army established their dominion, the case was altered. At a conference at Windsor, opened with prayers poured forth by Cromwell himself with all the cant of fanaticism, he opened the daring counsel of punishing the king by judicial sentence. The time, however, was not quite at hand for this bold measure. The king was left in custody in the Isle of Wight, and Cromwell again took the field against the Scots in the north and the Welsh in the west, making preparations at the same time to resist an invasion from Holland threatened by Prince Rupert, to whom seventeen English ships had deserted. Again he was victorious; and his army returned to London, where thes broke violently into the parliament-house while the men bers were in debate, seizing some, and excluding others, by the direction of Colonel Pride. The king's trial now (1649) commenced, and in proportion as violence increased the greater were the pretensions to sanctity. Cromwell declared to the house, Should any one have voluntarily proposed to bring the king to punishment, I should have regarded him as the greatest traitor; but since Providence and necessity have cast us upon it, I will pray to God for a blessing on your counsels, though I am not prepared to give you any advice. Even I myself, when I was lately offering up petitions for his majesty's restoration, felt my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, and considered this preternatural movement as the answer which Heaven, having rejected the king, had sent to my supplications.' (Hume.) The circumstances attending the king's trial are well known. Cromwell took an open undisguised part, and, with Ireton and Harrison, was named by the dregs of the parliament among the 133 persons chosen to constitute the tribunal. One half of this number were usually absent: but Cromwell's interest in the result was so deep that he was always present in the court. The sentence was passed, and he signed the warrant for the execution. He was now beset with entreaties to spare the king's life. To the intercessions of his son Richard he would scarcely listen with patience; to his cousin Col. Cromwell he would only reply,Go to rest, and expect no answer to carry to the prince, for the council of officers have been seeking God, as I also have done, and it is resolved by them all that the king must die.' The execution followed accordingly. Five days afterwards the House of Lords was voted useless, and a council of state was formed, with Bradshaw for president and Cromwell a principal member. Difficulties soon crowded round their government. A mutiny broke out in the army, which required the immediate presence of the lieutenant-general. Some regiments were pacified with little trouble, and became submissive after the execution of the ringleaders; but others continued to resist. At length Cromwell offered them a treaty, which they had no sooner accepted than he faithlessly put a large portion of them to death. By these means peace was restored. In Ireland the majority were still hostile to the parliament, and an army had been sent there to reduce the royalists to submission. Cromwell joined the troops in August, 1649: he besieged and took Drogheda, gave no quarter to the garrison, and proceeded to capture Wexford, Kilkenny, and Clonmell. In nine months the country was nearly subdued. Satisfied with his success, he left to Ireton the conduct of the troops against his panic-struck adversaries; and having sailed for Bristol, proceeded to London, where he was received with fresh honours by the parliament. them of what had taken place, and with forced marches pursuing the king, brought him to an engagement near Worcester, the result of which was a total defeat of the royalists (September, 1651). For this complete victory the parliament rewarded him with fresh honours and an additional pension of 40007. a year. How early Cromwell thought of taking into his hands the reins of government cannot be determined: whatever views or wishes of this kind he might have felt, they were not expressed, even to his friends, until after the battle of Worcester. Now however his mind was bent upon this object; but for some time no favourable opportunities presented themselves. The war with Holland occupied his attention and engrossed the thoughts of the nation. At length (1653), perceiving that the parliament became daily more jealous of his power, he determined to put an end to their authority. He first sent them a remonstrance; his next movement was to enter the House with an armed force, seize the mace, and to declare to them, 'You are no longer a parliament: the Lord has done with you; he has chosen other instruments for carrying on his work.' Loading the members with abuse, calling them adulterers, extortioners, drunkards, and gluttons, he drove them before him out of the House. Thus was the memorable 'Long Parliament' dissolved. The next step was to summon by name 139 persons, some gentry, some mechanics, all the very dregs of the fanatics, and to constitute them a parliament. It was obvious that such an assembly could in no way assist in the government of the realm; one measure only seemed to be expected from them, and that they quickly determined upon; it was to surrender their power to Cromwell, who, after their voluntary resignation, was declared 'Protector' by a council of the officers of his army, and solemnly installed into his dignity (1653). The first charter of the Commonwealth was drawn up in December, 1653, by the same council of officers: it was called the 'Instrument of Government.' The second, called the Petition and Advice,' was framed in May, 1657, by the Parliament which the Protector had assembled in the previous year. Under the first charter, the English government may be ranged among republics, with a chief magistrate at its head. Under the second it became substantially a monarchy, and Oliver Cromwell, from 1657 to his death, was de facto king of England. (Hallam, Cons. His. ii. 421.) The difficulties of his administration were great, but they were surmounted by his vigorous abilities, which shone forth as much in wielding his power as in obtaining it. That he was both arbitrary and despotic cannot be denied. Such was the temper of the country, and, notwithstanding his general popularity, such the number of his open or secret enemies, that immediate and forcible action, though sometimes illegal and tyrannical, was absolutely required. The children of the late king had suffered deeply from The morality of his conduct cannot for a moment be detheir fallen fortunes: one had died of grief at her father's fended. But if he would continue Protector there was little execution, another had been sent out of the kingdom by room to be scrupulous. There were opposed to him the Cromwell, and Prince Charles, the heir to the crown, poor royalists, who were still numerous; the nobility, to whom and neglected, had lived sometimes in Holland, at other he was hateful; the whole body of Presbyterians, who times either in Jersey or in France. At length he was induced were jealous of having no share in the power which they by the Scottish army to take shelter among them, a pro- had helped to gain; and in the army, the mutinous and tection which he bought by subscription to the covenant disaffected Levellers.' Severe measures then were requiand submission to restrictions so severe as almost to render site, and at times they certainly were used, not however withhim a prisoner. Whatever might be the circumstances out apparent reluctance. Cromwell's general policy,' says under which this junction was formed, the return of Charles Sir Walter Scott (Tales of a Grandfather, vol. iii.), was to to his kingdom could not fail to alarm the English. It balance parties against each other, and to make each dewas instantly resolved to march northward with all the sirous of the subsistence of his authority rather than run the troops that could be raised. Fairfax, himself a presby-risk of seeing it changed for some other than their own.' terian, refused to lead the forces, and Cromwell was there- The point that seemed most to perplex him was the calling fore nominated to the command, and became the general together of parliaments: he would neither reign with them of the commonwealth. This vast accession to his power nor without them. He abruptly dissolved the House in induced him to resign the lieutenancy of Ireland, to which 1654, in direct contradiction to the advice of Whitelock he had previously been appointed: perhaps a view of re- and his friends generally, who recollected the abuse that moving Ludlow to that post formed an additional reason had been poured upon King Charles under similar circumfor his withdrawal. Cromwell was jealous of the influence stances. It was not the wish to attain an absolute despotof Ludlow, who, though he did not receive this appoint-ism that prompted him to these acts, but rather an impament, was ultimately set aside by his promotion to an official situation in that kingdom. After these and other preparations, he began his march with 16,000 men (1650). The miscarriage of provisions was at first severely felt; but when supplies arrived the troops regained their courage. The battle of Dunbar was gained by the English, and Edinburgh and Perth were taken. Upon this the king suddenly marched into England. Cromwell, who had not expected this movement, sent expresses to the parliament to inform tience at the opposition that he was sure to experience in their councils. In 1656 his successes at home and abroad encouraged him to assemble another parliament. Ireland being in the hands of the army, elected such officers as he nominated; Scotland was nearly equally subservient to him; still the majority was unfavourable to his policy. The next step was difficult. He ordered the doors of the House of Commons to be guarded, and that no member should be admitted unless he produced an order from his council. Thus he excluded nearly one hundred members who were obnoxious to him. Thus 'purified,' this assembly voted a renunciation of all title to the throne in the family of the Stuarts; and Colonel Jephson moved that the crown should be bestowed upon Cromwell. A conference was soon afterwards appointed (1657), at which the Protector's scruples respecting the assumption of the title of king were stated and argued it was seen that his mind was wavering whether he should accept or whether he should forbear. But his prudence ultimately prevailed; he knew that the danger of acceding would be imminent, while the increase of power would be trifling; the odium in which the army had been taught to hold the regal title could never be overcome, and therefore he consented unwillingly to reject it. health broke down under these gloomy apprehensions; and on the 3rd September, 1658 (the anniversary of his victories at Dunbar and Worcester, and several other important events of his life), he died of fever and tertian ague, in the sixtieth year of his age. His burial was conducted with unusual pomp and magnificence at Westminster: but his corpse was not suffered to rest in peace. At the Restoration it was disinterred by the Royalists, and, having been hung at Tyburn, was cast into a hole beneath the gallows.' Of the numerous characters of Oliver Cromwell that have been drawn by various historians, none appears to us as a whole to be more faithful than that of Dr. Smollet. (Hist. of England.) It should nevertheless be recollected that the bias of the writer was strongly in favour of the high prerogative of the crown. Cromwell inherited great talents from nature; though they were such as he could not have exerted to advantage at any juncture but that of a civil war from an amazing conjunction of enthusiasm, hypocrisy, and ambition. He was possessed of courage and resolution that overlooked all dangers, and saw no difficulties. He dived into the characters of mankind with wonderful sagacity, whilst he concealed his own purposes under the impenetrable shield of dissimulation. He reconciled the most atrocious crimes to the most rigid notions of religious obligations. From the severest exercise of devotion he relaxed into the most ludicrous and idle buffoonery. He preserved the dignity and distance of his character in the midst of the coarsest familiarity. He was cruel and tyrannical from despicable in his discourse, clear and consummate in his designs, ridiculous in his reveries, respectable in his conduct; in a word, the strangest compound of villany and virtue, baseness and magnanimity, absurdity and good sense, that we find upon record in the annals of mankind.' As Cromwell's treatment of his parliaments was arbitrary, so also were his dealings with the courts of justice. He degraded three judges without just cause, and so inti-inflamed by religious contests. His character was formed midated the barristers that they feared to uphold clients whose causes were contrary to the Protector's wishes. To give an instance of this oppression-One Cory having refused to pay the unjust and exorbitant tax of ten per cent. which was ordered to be levied upon the property of all royalists, sued the collector. Three eminent counsel, Maynard, Twisden, and Wyndham, were employed in his cause, but Cromwell, without suffering them to enter into their argument, sent them to the Tower even for accepting the brief. Sir Peter Wentworth having brought a similar action, was asked by the council if he would give it up; 'If you command me,' he replied to Cromwell, I must sub-policy, just and temperate from inclination, perplexed and mit; the Protector did command, and the action was withdrawn. Equally shameless were the means which were used for the erection of the courts, by which, in 1654, Gerard and Vowel, and, in 1658, Slingsby and Hewit, were brought to the scaffold. These, and other similar acts, rendered Cromwell hateful to many of his subjects. He had suppressed some royalist insurrections at Salisbury, and executed the leaders in 1655; but now he entertained fears from the republicans also. Major Wildman, a republican, was arrested for a conspiracy against him; and such was the ill-will shown to him by the democratic soldiery as to cause anxiety for his personal safety. One Sindercome, who by an accident alone had been prevented from murdering him, was arrested and condemned; but to the disappointment of Cromwell, who eagerly desired to make a public example, the criminal committed suicide before the day appointed for his execution. The foreign policy of the Protector has been variously estimated. It seems to have been imprudent but magnanimous, enterprising, and ultimately successful. Perhaps no government,' says Sir Walter Scott (Tales of a Grandfather), was ever more respected abroad.' Many memorable victories were achieved under the parliament and under Cromwell. It is just to say,' observes Mr. Hallam (Const. Hist., vol. ii.), 'that the maritime glory of England may first be traced from the era of the Commonwealth in a track of continuous light.' A treaty, consequent on the successes of Blake, was honourably concluded with the Dutch. An expedition, more politic than just, was made against the West Indian colonies of Spain; it ended in failure and disappointment, although it gained for England the island of Jamaica, a greater and more advantageous possession than many triumphs have produced. An alliance was concluded with France in 1655 to act in conjunction against the Spanish forces in the Low Countries; Mardyke and Dunkirk were taken, and the Spaniards were afterwards wholly defeated at Dunes. Denmark, Portugal, and Sweden, eagerly sought the Protector's friendship; ambassadors flocked to his court, bearing the most conciliatory and adulatory messages. The anxiety of all princes to be allied with so recent an usurper is very remarkable. The servility of some powers was extreme, as has been proved by several curious instances which have been collected by Mr. Harris. (Life of Cromwell, p. 352.) Whether Cromwell could have maintained his authority for many years is doubtful; the prevalent discontents induce us to believe that he could not. He became,' says Sir Walter Scott (Tales of a Grandfather), morose and melancholy, always wore secret armour under his ordinary dress, and never stirred abroad unless surrounded with guards, never returned by the same road nor slept thrice in the same apartment from the dread of assassination; his The resemblance between the fortunes of Cromwell and of him who in more recent times raised himself from insignificance to a throne, is strong enough to strike the generality of readers. Mr. Hallam has stated (Cons. Hist.) the most striking points in the parallel. But the conclusion of Bonaparte's life was very unlike that of the Protector; the fortunes of one had declined for years before his death, the other retained his authority to the last hour. Cromwell was not wanting in kindness towards his family, and always showed great affection towards his wife and children. He was once married; six children, two sons, and four daughters, survived him. Of the daughters, Bridget was twice married, first to Ireton, and afterwards to Fleetwood. Elizabeth was the wife of John Clayton, Esq.; Mary married Lord Fauconberg, and Frances was wife first to Mr. Rich and afterwards to Sir John Russell of Chippenham. (Clarendon's Hist. of Rebellion; Hallam's Cons. Hist.; Noble's Memoirs of Cromwell's family; Tracts on the Civil Wars; Harris's Life of Oliver Cromwell; Crit. Review of Life of Oliver Cromwell; Biog. Brit.; Biog. Univer.; W. Scott's Tales of a Grandfather; Villemain's Hist. de Crom.; Smollett's and other Histories.) CROMWELL, RICHARD, the third son of Oliver Cromwell the Protector, but the eldest that survived him, was born at Huntingdon on the 4th of October, 1626. He was educated at Felsted in Essex, with his brothers Henry and Oliver, and thence removed to Lincoln's Inn, where he was admitted in 1647. His study of the law was only nominal, for the time which he should have occupied with reading was wasted in the pursuit of pleasure. Although he had now arrived at an age when it would have been most natural for him to have desired to join his father's troops, we do not find that he showed any inclination to do so. Besides indolence and apathy, many causes have been assigned for this want of enterprise; some have supposed that his father would not suffer him to take arms; others, that Richard Cromwell's political opinions differed from the Protector's; and that as his companions were chiefly cavaliers, and the king's health had often been drank at their carousals, he was favourable to the Royal rather than the Parliamentary cause. There is, however no very clear evidence to prove this last fact, unless we may reckon as such the fact that Richard, averse to spilling blood, when the king was condemned, petitioned his father for a remission of the sentence. At the age of twenty-three he married Dorothy, the eldest daughter of Richard Major, Esq. of Hursley, in |