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Letters and Speeches
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General SummaryThe famous English writer, Thomas Carlyle, gave to the world in 1845 the first collection ever made of Cromwell’s letters and speeches. The work had an immediate success and within a few years totally changed the current estimate of Cromwell. Until it appeared, even historians favorable to the Puritan Revolution had been accustomed to represent him as a patriot in the first part of his career and a tyrant in the last part. But now no one could study the life of the great Protector, as given in his own words, without being convinced of the man’s honesty and sincerity of purpose. Carlyle thus restored Cromwell to his proper place among English worthies.
Historical SummaryThe Civil War between Charles I and parliament broke out in 1642. Fortune at first favored the Royalists, and it was not until Cromwell appeared as a military leader that the parliamentarians had any conspicuous success. At a critical moment in the battle of Marston Moor (1644) Cromwell hurled his "Ironsides" against the Royalists under Prince Rupert and gained a decisive victory. All the north of England now fell into the hands of parliament and the Scots. Cromwell refers to the battle in a letter of condolence which he wrote to Colonel Walton, whose son had been killed.
CHAPTER II
Cromwell’s Letters and Speeches1
7. Battle of Marston Moor2
. . . Truly England and the Church of God hath had a great
favor from the Lord, in this great victory given unto us, such
as the like never was since this war began. It had all the evidences
of an absolute victory obtained by the Lord’s blessing
upon the godly party principally. We never charged but we
routed the enemy. The left wing, which I commanded, being
our own cavalry, except a few Scots in our rear, beat all the
prince’s cavalry. God made them as stubble to our swords. . . .
The particulars I cannot relate now, but I believe, of twenty
thousand the prince hath not four thousand left. Give glory,
all the glory, to God.
Sir, God hath taken away your eldest son by a cannon shot.
It broke his leg. We were obliged to have it cut off, whereof
he died. . . . He was a gallant young man, exceeding gracious.
God give you His comfort. Before his death he was so full of
comfort that to Frank Russel and myself he could not express it,
it was so great above his pain. This he said to us. Indeed
it was admirable. A little after, he said one thing lay upon his
spirit. I asked him what that was. He told me that it was that
God had not suffered him to be no more the executioner of His
enemies. At his fall, his horse being killed with the bullet, and as
I am informed three horses more, I am told he bid them open to
the right and left, that he might see the rogues run. Truly he
was exceedingly beloved in the army, of all that knew him. But
few knew him, for he was a precious young man, fit for God.
You have cause to bless the Lord. He is a glorious saint in
Heaven, wherein you ought exceedingly to rejoice. Let this
drink up your sorrow; seeing these are not feigned words to
comfort you, but the thing is so real and undoubted a truth.
You may do all things by the strength of Christ. Seek that, and
you shall easily bear your trial. Let this public mercy to the
Church of God make you to forget your private sorrow. The
Lord be your strength.
1 , edited by Thomas Carlyle, revised
by S. C. Lomas. 3 vols. London, 1904. Methuen and Co.
2 Cromwell, , vol. i, pp. 176#8211;177.
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Chicago: "Battle of Marston Moor," Letters and Speeches in Readings in Modern European History, ed. Webster, Hutton (Boston: D.C. Heath, 1926), 14. Original Sources, accessed November 21, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=ADZW4V5UE1IIG8L.
MLA: . "Battle of Marston Moor." Letters and Speeches, Vol. i, in Readings in Modern European History, edited by Webster, Hutton, Boston, D.C. Heath, 1926, page 14. Original Sources. 21 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=ADZW4V5UE1IIG8L.
Harvard: , 'Battle of Marston Moor' in Letters and Speeches. cited in 1926, Readings in Modern European History, ed. , D.C. Heath, Boston, pp.14. Original Sources, retrieved 21 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=ADZW4V5UE1IIG8L.
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