An important work, as we have seen, was finished in Oliver during the nine or ten years of obscurity and seclusion that intervened between his marriage and his obtaining a seat in parliament. Milton, who knew him well, says of him: He had grown up in peace and privacy at home, silently cherishing in his heart a confidence in God, and a magna-nimity well adapted for the solemn times that were approaching.* Although of ripe years, he had not yet stepped forward into public life, and nothing so much distinguished him from all around as the cultivation of a pure religion, and the integrity of his life."t

Oliver was henceforth a Christian in earnest. He had been called by God to the knowledge of Jesus Christ: his mind had been enlightened and his heart renewed by the Divine Word. To this call from on high, this great call from God, which so many souls despise, or at least neglect, he had replied from the depths of his heart, and had laid hold of the grace presented to him, with a new and unalterable will. He had believed in the name of the Lord, in the blood of Jesus Christ: he had been delivered from the penalty of sin, and from the dominion of evil. A new birth had given him a new life. He was at peace with God: he possessed the spirit of adoption, and an easy access to the throne of Grace. From that time he became a man of prayer, and so he remained for the rest of his life. He lived and he died in prayer. It was not he who had loved God first: he had been loved by Him, and had believed in this love. He had not acted like those who, enchanted by the world, always defer the moment of their conversion, and thus become guilty of the greatest sin and the greatest folly.

year according to the new style, to prevent confusion. Thus, the last three months of 1635, old style, will be the first three of 1636, new style. * Domi in occulto creverat, et ad summa quæque tempora fiduciam Deo fretam et ingentem animum tacito pectore aluerat. Defensio Secunda. 106 Haga, 1654.

+ Religionis cultu purioris et integritate vitæ cognitus. Ibid.

Rusticus expectat dum defluat amnis, at ille
Labitur et labetur in omne volubilis ævum.

In regard to the kingdom of heaven, he had learnt that it is the violent who take it by force; and with the whole energy of his soul, regenerated by the Holy Ghost, he had seized upon it. Oliver was now a real Christian: he remained one to his latest breath; and, if we except a few moments of trouble, to which the most godly men are subject, he persevered in faith and confidence till his course of mortality was completed.

Events were now becoming more serious every day, and thick clouds were already gathering over the people and the throne.

The accession of Charles I. had been hailed with pleasure. His morals were virtuous; and what might not the nation hope from a prince only twenty-five years old? But when the king gave England a papist queen in the person of Henrietta of France, the affection that had been entertained towards him immediately cooled. Nor was it without a cause. In the marriage-contract, drawn up under the eyes of the Pope, there were several clauses favorable to the Romish faith. Henrietta arrived in London, fortified by the instructions of Mother Magdalen of St. Joseph, a Carmelite nun, and under the direction of Father Berulli, accompanied by twelve priests of the Congregation of the Oratory. These having been sent back to France, were soon replaced by twelve Capuchin friars. Henrietta, a worthy pupil of her native court, wished at first to make everything bend to her religion and her humor; and her followers desired to celebrate their worship in all its splendor. The queen had even a liking for intrigue; and it was soon seen that the blood which flowed in her veins was that of the Medici. It was more particularly after the death of Buckingham, (23rd August, 1628,) that she wished to take advantage of her husband's affection to enable her to domineer over the country, and

that the most zealous Roman-catholics, admitted into the queen's cabinet, sought there the power they required for the accomplishment of their designs.

At the time when Popery was thus reappearing at the court of England, the Gospel was flourishing in the house of Oliver, who was occupied with his flocks and fields, his children, the interests of his neighbors, and above all in putting into practice the commandments of God. Salvation was come to his house, and his light shone before men. He possessed great delicacy of conscience, and of this we shall give one instance which occurred a little later. After his conversion to God, he remembered what Zaccheus said to Jesus, as He went into his house: Behold, Lord, if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. Cromwell had taken nothing in that way; but, like other men of the world, he had won some money formerly in gambling. This he returned, rightly considering it would be sinful to retain it. The sums were large for those days; one of them being £80, and the other £120. His means were not ample, his family had increased; but such things had no weight with him. His religion was one not of words but of works. As soon as his conscience spoke, he acted on its suggestions, however great the sacrifice he was compelled to make. He remembered Christ's remark, and acted on it during his whole life: Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven.

CHAPTER II.

CROMWELL'S PARLIAMENTARY LIFE.

Cromwell's Election and first Appearance in Parliament-His PortraitTonnage and Poundage-Struggle in Parliament-Dissolution-John Hampden's Refusal-Absolutism and Popery installed-Evangelical Ministers-Persecutions: Leighton, Prynne, Bastwick, Burton-Scotland and the Covenant-New Parliament-Strafford-Charles's Insincerity-Irish Massacre-Remonstrance-Militia Bill-Cavaliers and Round-heads-Charge against Five Members-Beginning of the Revolution-Cromwell and his sons become Soldiers-Necessity-Hampden's Opinion of Cromwell.

On the 29th of January, 1628, writs were issued for a new Parliament, in which, on the 17th of March, Cromwell took his seat as member for Huntingdon. His father also, in earlier years, had been returned for the same town. After a prorogation of three months, the legislature assembled again on the 20th of January, 1629. On the 11th of February, the House of Commons resolved itself into a grand Committee of Religion, in which one of the new members, Oliver, then thirty years of age, rose to speak for the first time. All eyes were turned upon him, and the House listened to him with attention. He wore a plain cloth suit, which seemed to have been made by a bad country tailor; his linen was not of the purest white; his ruffles were old-fashioned; his hat was without a band; his sword stuck close to his side; his countenance was swollen and reddish; his voice sharp and untunable : but his delivery was warm and animated; his frame, although exceeding the middle height, strong and well-proportioned; he had a manly air, a bright and sparkling eye, and stern look.*

* Memoirs of Sir Philip Warwick, 247, London, 1701.

Certain ecclesiastics were then gaining notoriety by their zeal in forwarding, within the pale of the Church, the power of the king and the doctrines of Rome. Cromwell complained that the bishops permitted and even recommended the preaching of "flat Popery." "If these are the steps to church preferment," exclaimed he, "what are we to expect!" What are we to expect? . . . asked Oliver; and this was in truth the great question of the age. The re-establishment of Popery was the object of the seventeenth century, and Cromwell's first public words were against it. He then set up the landmark which determined and marked out the course he had resolved to follow until his death. Even Hume, generally so hostile to him, is struck by seeing his first words correspond so exactly to his character. Cromwell, indeed, was from the hinning to the end of his life quite consistent; he was faithful to the one idea, which he proclaimed upon the housetops. And it is this man, so decided, so open, who has been termed a hypocrite! History was never guilty of a greater error.

The Commons did not for the present stop at the extravagant doctrines of such semi-papists as Mainwaring, Sibthorp, and Montague, whom the Bishop of Winchester had taken into favor. It was a different question that led to the dissolution of Parliament. The king required that they should vote the duties of tonnage and poundage for life, which the Commons refused. The speaker Finch, a courtier, was desirous of adjourning the house immediately, according to the orders of his master; but some of the members, among whom was Mr. Holles, resisted, and in despite of his supplications and tears, held him by main force in the chair. The king sent orders to the serjeant-at-arms to withdraw with the mace, which would suspend all deliberation; but he also, like the speaker, was kept in his seat. At the same time the keys of the hall were taken from him, and the doors were locked. Shortly after, a knock was heard on the outside: "Open," said the usher of the black rod: "a message from the king."