ART. XXII.-CROMWELLIAN CHRISTIANITY.*

It is proposed in the subjoined remarks, to institute an examination into what we have chosen to denominate Cromwellian Christianity. Under this designation, we would have our readers to understand that form of religion, or imitation of religion, as we shall see hereafter, which we find embodied in the person of Oliver Cromwell, Protector of the Commonwealth of England. From the start, therefore, it will be remembered, that we have no particular reference to what is generally called Puritan Christianity. We cannot, by any means, coincide with Carlyle, when he represents Cromwell as the soul and life of Puritanism. Cromwell may have been closely connected with the Puritans during his whole life, and these latter may have coöperated with him in many of his movements, still we do not consider the connection so intimate, as it is represented by the above mentioned critic. Puritanism might have existed and run in pretty much the same channel, if Cromwell had never lived, though it is not likely that Cromwell could have flourished, had there been no Puritantsm. If our conceptions of Puritanism are correct, there is a fundamental difference between the one and the other. In the Protestant world, at least, there is no longer any doubt respecting the evangelical character of the ancient Puritans. Their names have been long ago recorded among the excellent of the earth, and their memories have been embalmed in the hearts of Christians in all parts of the world. They have left behind them a history of trials and tribulations for the cause of humanity, replete with edification to succeeding ages. Their martyrdoms are of as pure and elevated a character as have been offered any where at the shrine of Truth; their works, which do follow them, will endure when the monuments of the Pharaohs, and the trophies of art, shall have crumbled into dust. Their wood, hay and stubble will, doubtless, be consumed by the devouring element of time, but only that the durable material of their building may be brought more clearly to view. Thus much, however, cannot be said of Cromwellianism.

Two

Oliver Cromwell's Letters and Speeches, with elucidations, by Thomas Carlyle. New York, 1847,

The Protector: A Vindication, by J. H. Merle D'Aubignè, D. D. New York, 1847.

centuries have passed away, and its claims to a Christian character have not as yet been established. Its memory had been consigned to eternal ignominy, had it not af late awakened the sympathies of two of the most influential writers in Protestant Christendom-Carlyle in the literary, and D'Aubignè in the religious world. The weight of these two names when employed on the side of Justice and Truth, may be considered sufficient to resist any attacks made against an injured man; and Cromwell, if he were now alive, would have no reason to complain that wit and genius had all combined to hold his memory in execration, but on the contrary, to rejoice that the world is, at length, prepared to do him justice, whatever its decision is destined to be.

With reference to the office which Carlyle has performed, it is not our intention here to dispute or object. He certainly deserves our warmest thanks for his Herculean task, "for fishing up authentic utterances of the man Oliver, from foul Lethean quagmires, where they lay buried." As far as we can judge, he has successfully proved that "Stupidity" and "Dryasdust," favorite terms of his, have heretofore combined to denounce one of the greatest benefactors of the English nation: that Cromwell completely cut the sinews of Popery in England, and forever settled the question whether Protestantism should be established there on an impregnable basis, or yield at last to the intrigues of the Jesuits. Whilst Protestantism was struggling for a political existence on the continent, England was still storm-tost, and veering from Protestantism on the one hand, to Popery on the other. Queen Elizabeth did not establish Protestantism so immovably as she supposed. It was destined for Cromwell to complete what she had commenced. Popery was made, not only in England, but also on the Continent, to quail at the name of the Protector. If, then, the preeminence of England, in the old world, be owing to her Protestant faith, it is owing more, perhaps, to the policy of Cromwell, than to any other instrumentality, that Protestantism there found a home.

With the appearance of Carlyle's work on Cromwell, we believe, that the tribunal of history is solemnly invoked to review her former decisions, and to render a new one, that will be more in accordance with the dictates of truth and an enlightened age. As a consequence, we may expect the historic literature of England, to be revolutionized and to be written over again. It is more particularly, however, with the inference, which D'Aubignè has drawn from the perform

ance of Carlyle, that Cromwellianism is Christianity, that we have here to do. We are disposed to honor the warrior and the statesman, whilst we are not able to award him the honored name of the Christian.

It must be admitted that many of our opinions on the most important matters, are mere prejudices, imbibed from the age in which we live, or inherited from former times. On this account it is extremely difficult to decide respecting the character of such an individual as Cromwell, from the mere impression which the facts of his life are calculated to make upon our minds. But every person possesses the remnant of a moral taste, that experiences a sensation of pleasure when confronted with moral beauty. Let this test be applied to the history of Cromwell, and what is the result? Is it the same as that which we experience in gazing at the Reformers, through D'Aubignè's graphic representations? The heroes of the Reformation awaken our sympathies for man, and invest human destiny with a dignity and glory of which we had no previous conception. The mind as it passes from scene to scene of that spritstirring drama, is elevated above the sphere of passion, and feels a kindred glow for all that is great and good in our common history. We feel ourselves involuntarily attracted to the cause of Freedom, Humanity and the Gospel, and prompted by an inward inspiration, we would descend ourselves into the battle-field, where Light and Darkness are disputing the ground. Can the history of the English Commonwealth thus enlist our affections, even when its darker side is left out of view, as is seduously done in D'Aubigne's life of Cromwell? Has the light which has been shed upon the life of Cromwell, for the last two centuries, created so warm an impression in its favor?

But the subject is one of importance and will not admit of being disposed of thus summarily. Let us endeavor to gain some idea of a pure Christianity, and then contrast it with its Cromwellian surrogate. If Christianity be anything at all, it is something more than a creed, a confession, or the triumph of a party. It is properly a new and spiritual creation. It is the same power which in the beginning called forth a world of created beings, and animated them with life, and form, and beauty. It is something more fundamental than any activity which is witnessed in the world of history or nature; it is the unity in which all finite beings are reconciled, and made to stand in their proper relations. Apart from such a living

connection with Christ, the world is still a chaos, or like a vessel loosened from its mooring, lost by the wild, tempestous wave. But Christianity is a thing of nought, until man becomes conscious of it, and awakes to a sense of its power over himself and the world. It then becomes the law of his being, imbedded in the depth of his inmost soul, infusing life and health through his entire frame. When an individual experiences such an inward consciousness of the vital character of religion, he is said to possess faith in the proper sense, which with propriety is distinguished by theologians from mere knowledge. A clear view of the spiritual nature of Christianity, therefore, must in the nature of things produce a conviction of its capacity to penetrate every department of life. It is felt that this may be effected without the destruction of the object it seeks to subdue. It possesses a power to purify the world as it is, with its infinite variety of languages, customs, governments, and degrees. of culture. In can thrive under an absolute monarchy, as well as under a free republic. Sin being its only opponent, it asserts a sort of divine authority for the constitution of the world at a given time. It says, honor the kings, whether he be a Nero or a Trajan. It never regards the world as absolutely the best, which the Divine. mind could produce, but the best for man in his present condition. As the prison is the best place for the criminal, so the circumstances, favorable or unfavorable, with which he is surrounded, are the best for man as a sinner. The world changes and improves, as the spiritual condition of man is elevated; but such changes must not precede the internal change, as the radical would have it, but are always found to succeed it as a necessary result. The mild genius of Christianity on this account does not ask for the fire and sword to further its progress. It possesses a power which renders these superfluous, and every one who possesses it must be conscious of it, for he is taught of God. When individuals or ages then are found to put confidence in human resources, in an arm of flesh, we may reasonably conclude that they have no higher resort or hope.

Let us now apply the above remarks to the case in hand. Do we meet with such a confidence in the divine power of Christianity, as to render violence unnecessary? No doubt but that Cromwell was under the evangelical spirit of his times. But how was his zeal tempered by faith in the living energy of the divine word? We shall seek in vain for this sine qua non, when Cromwell is excited to activity. His army and sword were in his estimation better

adapted to execute his ends than prayer or argument. With Cromwell, the Protestant faith was endangered by the reigning monarch, whose influence must first be curtailed, and whose life was at length sacrificed for the cause of Truth! or as he very sincerely no doubt thought, for the cause of God! In the next place, the parliament, which took the place and power of the king, seemed to stand in the way of the gospel, and this must necessarily be dissolved to make way for the army, to do the work of the Lord more faithfully. At length, however, the army itself in his view, was insufficient to finish the work so auspiciously commenced, and he begins to think that the whole protestant movement must be centered in his own person. Here it will be remembered, that we are not discussing the expediency or inexpediency of his political measures; they may have been justifiable or unjustifiable in a political point of view. But what are we to think of the Christianity which seeks to extend itself by the overthrow of an ancient constitution-the freest of the age, by the death of the sovereign, by the dissolution of the law-makingpower, and by the concentration of all power within itself? When further, the progress of religion is set forth as the ruling motivethe grand inducement for such sudden and extensive changes? Is there faith here in Christianity as a grain of mustard seed? Or is it not a practical denial of Christ, and an implied unbelief in the purifying power of the Truth?

The spirit of the age might be plead as extenuating the matter, and doubtless the mere faults of an individual's piety may often be bolstered upon his age or associations. But such a plea is not of place, when the question has reference to the essentials of religion, and such is the issue which is made above. But let the objection have its weight. It will be admitted that Luther lived in a less enlightened age than Cromwell, and yet we find him reposing the utmost confidence in the word of God to accomplish its ends. The elements of strife were present in Germany, and it would have required but little excitement to produce the explosion, which took place a century after, still he clings with all his soul to the unadulterated word of God, as the power which was to bring order and subordination amidst the general uproar. D'Aubignè himself in his History remarks of this, as a peculiar excellence in the Reformer's piety, that he did not wish to further the Reformation by arms, but by the simple preaching of the Gospel; but it excites no horror in the historian, when a contrary spirit is manifested by Cromwell.